Department for Transport

Ferries: Freight

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2020 to Question 51908 on Ferries: Freight, if he will publish the names of the external experts that provided (a) legal, (b) technical and (c) financial advice on the design of the Public Service Obligation Agreements; and what the cost to the public purse was of that advice.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 23 June 2020



The Government is providing up to £35.2m in funding to maintain capacity for critical goods for 9 weeks across 16 critical freight routes. During the height of the crisis, we believed it was important to keep this vital flow of critical goods such as medicines and food into and across the UK. The providers of expert advice are as follows:Legal advice - Slaughter & MayTechnical advice - CostainFinancial advice - PwC The amounts spent on the external experts to date are as follows:Slaughter & May - £394,048Costain - £188,676PwC - £178,058 These figures exclude VAT.

Department for Transport: Public Inquiries

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by his Department.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department will, as a matter of course, publish any inquiries it is required to do so as part of the terms of reference for that inquiry. For those where publication is not a requirement, Ministers will take a decision to publish on a case-by-case basis.

Motor Vehicles: Hydrogen

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential for hydrogen-powered vehicles to support improvements in air quality.

Rachel Maclean: In 2018, the Department for Transport published the outputs of the Transport Energy Model. The model provides a clear assessment of the relative environmental impacts, including air quality, of a range of fuel and powertrain options for cars, vans, buses and heavy goods vehicles over the period to 2050, including hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Motor Vehicles: Hydrogen

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase the number of hydrogen powered vehicles in use in the UK.

Rachel Maclean: We are supporting hydrogen technology to deliver our ambitions for greener transport where the market favours its use. The Government’s £23m Hydrogen for Transport Programme is increasing the uptake of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and growing the number of publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling stations. The programme is delivering new refuelling stations, upgrading some existing stations as well as deploying hundreds of new hydrogen vehicles. Government is supporting public and private sector fleets to become early adopters through the £2m FCEV Fleet Support Scheme. In addition, £6.4m of the Low and Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme funding has been invested in more than 60 hydrogen buses operating in Birmingham and near Gatwick. The Office for Low Emission Vehicles’ (OLEV) Low Emission Freight Trials is funding 20 projects to support industry-led trials of alternative propulsion technologies for commercial fleets in the UK, including hydrogen. OLEV and the Advanced Propulsion Centre are funding a wide range of development projects in hydrogen vehicles, and hydrogen is eligible for support under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation following changes made to the scheme in April 2018.

Public Transport: Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to enforce the mandatory wearing of face coverings on public transport.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Since Monday 15 June most passengers must wear a face covering when travelling on public transport in England, unless they are exempt for health, disability or other reasons. We expect to see a gradual ramp-up of enforcement, supported by a significant communications campaign over the coming months. The regulations made under the Public Health Act 1984 includes powers for operators to deny access to a service, to direct a passenger to wear a face covering, or direct someone to leave a service, if they are not wearing a face covering. Transport operators have discretion over how they use these powers - they are not obliged to use them. If the passenger still doesn’t comply with operators’ encouragement and instructions without a legitimate exemption, there are new powers for the police and Transport for London authorised personnel to issue a fixed penalty notice of £100, or £50 if paid within 14 days. We have published updated guidance for operators which clearly sets out advice on ensuring passenger compliance with the face covering regulations, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-transport-guidance-for-operators/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-transport-guidance-for-operators#face-coverings

Public Transport: Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that passengers are aware of the requirement to wear face coverings on public transport.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Since Monday 15 June most passengers must wear a face covering when travelling on public transport in England, unless they are exempt for health, disability or other reasons. We are making passengers aware of the new requirement, including the exemptions in place, through the Department for Transport’s Safer Transport communications campaign. We are working closely with transport operators to make sure they are communicating the requirements to their staff and passengers. We have published updated guidance for passengers which clearly sets out the requirement to wear face coverings on public transport, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-safer-travel-guidance-for-passengers#face-coverings

Passenger Ships: Coronavirus

Ms Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with representatives of the cruise ship sector on resumption of their operations as covid-19 restrictions are eased.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the economic effect of the covid-19 pandemic on the UK cruise ship sector.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the economic contribution was of the cruise ship sector to the UK economy in 2019; and what estimate he has made of that economic contribution in 2020.

Kelly Tolhurst: I fully recognise the impact that the global COVID-19 pandemic has had on the UK cruise sector and I would like to place on record my recognition of the proactive action it took to suspend operations and to work tirelessly with Government to repatriate thousands of passengers and crew. The cruise sector and, the supply chains it supports, makes a highly significant contribution to the UK economy with the industry estimating that it generates a total of around £10bn for the Country’s economy each year. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, my Department’s officials and I have held regular calls with the cruise sector on a wide range of operational and financial issues and continue to do so. We will actively support the sector as it develops a pathway towards the safe resumption of cruises which I know many millions of people in the UK have enjoyed and will want to again.

Coronavirus: Passenger Ships

Ms Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the cruise ship sector will be required to follow the covid-19 public health guidelines as set out for the public transport sector or the hospitality industry.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Department has been working closely with the cruise industry to assist in their development of robust guidance to enable a safe resumption of operations. Due to the variety of environments on board a cruise ship, the cruise industry will apply guidelines for both the hospitality and transport sector. These should be applied where appropriate. Officials continue to work with the cruise industry, together with other government departments, including Public Health England, to ensure the necessary measures and protocols are put in place.

Electric Vehicles: Linlithgow and East Falkirk

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many electric vehicles were registered in Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency in the most recent period for which records are available.

Rachel Maclean: At the end of 2019, there were 147 battery electric vehicles licensed to addresses in the Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency, which comprised of 127 cars and 20 other vehicles.

Bus Services and Rapid Transit Systems: Stoke-on-Trent North

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of (a) bus and (b) light rail services in Stoke-on-Trent North constituency.

Rachel Maclean: On 23 May, the Government announced a further £283 million to help protect and increase bus and light rail services as we begin to restart our economy. As part of the ‘Better Deal for Bus Users’ package £30 million of additional funding is also being provided to local authorities to improve current bus services, or restore lost services where needed. The Department will continue to work with both sectors to understand how services can adapt to any ‘new normal’ that emerges from the Covid-19 outbreak so that a sustainable long-term recovery can be made.

Railways: Innovation

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to use new technological solutions to improve the running of the railways.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Research, development and innovation to improve the running of the railway is primarily the responsibility of the rail industry. The cross-industry Executive Technical Leadership Group is chaired by Network Rail, and owns the current Rail Technical Strategy, which sets out a vision for rail and how technology can help meet the objectives of cutting carbon, reducing cost, increasing capacity and improving the customer experience. The strategy is currently being revised.

Electric Vehicles

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage more people to switch to electric vehicles.

Rachel Maclean: The Government is investing around £2.5bn‎, with grants available for ultra-low emission vehicles, as well as funding to support charge point infrastructure at homes, workplaces, on residential streets and across the wider roads network. The Government is consulting on bringing forward an end to the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans, from 2040 to 2035, or earlier if a faster transition appears feasible, including hybrids for the first time. This will help inform our thinking on what further appropriate measures to achieve a faster transition will need to be. The Transport Secretary has also announced that the government will consult on measures to improve the consumer experience of using the public charging network so that charging an electric vehicle is as straightforward as refuelling a conventional vehicle today. Go Ultra Low is a joint Government and industry campaign designed to educate individuals and businesses about the benefits of switching to an electric vehicle. The campaign provides facts and information across high reach channels such as paid media (cinema, radio, digital), PR and events.

Motor Vehicles: Air Conditioning

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that drivers are protected from poor air quality by adequate vehicle filtration systems.

Rachel Maclean: The Government is determined to improve air quality and the Department’s officials are engaging with international expert groups, who are developing measurement procedures for vehicle interior air quality. There are currently no legislative requirements for vehicle cabin air filtration systems however some manufacturers install higher efficiency air filtration systems.

Biofuels

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with car manufacturers on the introduction of bio fuels as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.

Rachel Maclean: The Department supports biofuels through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), a scheme which has been successful for the past 12 years in supporting a market for biofuels. In 2018, renewable fuels supplied under the RTFO scheme, which were overwhelmingly biofuels, made up 3.1% of total road and non-road mobile machinery fuel supply. The Department’s ministers and officials regularly consult on biofuels policy with a range of stakeholders, including vehicle manufacturers. For example, the Department has recently consulted on the introduction of E10 petrol, which would increase the amount of bioethanol in petrol vehicles. In addition, the Low Carbon Fuels Team in the Department holds quarterly meetings with industry experts to discuss our biofuels strategy. The last meeting, which I had the pleasure of speaking at, was on 25 June.

Aviation: Coronavirus

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with his (a) US and European counterparts and the (b)(i) UK and (ii) international aerospace industry on establishing globally consistent plans for the resumption of flying.

Kelly Tolhurst: The aviation sector is important to the UK economy and the government recognises the challenging times it is facing as a result of COVID-19. The Department for Transport has kept an open dialogue with the aviation sector including with the aerospace industry, through regular structured engagement at both ministerial and official level. Additionally, the International Aviation Taskforce’s industry Expert Steering Group has been established to bring together all interested parties to co-produce solutions where possible through a cross-sector representative membership, including aerospace industry body ADS, airports, airlines and international representatives to ensure that the work of the UK is in sync with wider global efforts in the aviation sector.

Bus Services: Coronavirus

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on rural communities of reductions in the level of rural bus services during the covid-19 outbreak.

Rachel Maclean: On 23 May, the Transport Secretary announced a further £254 million to help increase bus services across England as quickly as possible as we begin to re-open our economy. This is in addition to the £397 million the Government announced on 3 April 2020 to keep England’s buses running to serve those who need to rely on them. In addition, the Government allowed local authorities to use the extra £30 million in 2020/21 to support essential bus services and provided £20 million through the Rural Mobility Fund to support demand responsive services in rural communities.

Roads: Accidents

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many road accidents involving vans there were in Herefordshire in 2019.

Rachel Maclean: The latest annual published statistics are for 2018. There were 40 reported personal injury road accidents involving light goods vehicles/vans (goods 3.5 tonnes or under), in Herefordshire, in 2018. Detailed final data on reported personal injury road accidents in Great Britain for 2019 will be published in September 2020.

Roads: Accidents

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fatalities there have been from road accidents in Herefordshire in the past 10 years.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fatalities there were from road accidents in Herefordshire in 2019.

Rachel Maclean: Detailed final statistics on reported personal injury road accidents in Great Britain for 2019 will be published in September 2020. The latest annual published statistics are for 2018. The number of fatalities in reported road accidents in Herefordshire, between the years 2009 and 2018 can be found in the below table:   Fatalities in reported road accidents in Herefordshire, 2009-2018  YearNumber of fatalities2009132010720111420125201352014132015720166201711201812Source: DfT, STATS19

Department for Transport: Coronavirus

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report of the all-party group on air pollution entitled, Air Quality Strategy to Reduce Coronavirus Infection.

Rachel Maclean: The Government is committed to making lasting changes to the way people, goods and services travel to help make our country greener and healthier, and to deliver clean economic growth. In line with our clean air and net zero carbon targets, our policies will ensure that emissions continue to fall over time right across the country through a green economic recovery from COVID-19 that has transport at its heart. This includes a £5 billion package of investment in zero emission buses, cycling and walking in line with the recent recommendations of the all-party group on air pollution.

Public Transport: Rural Areas

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the level of access to public transport in towns and rural communities compared with urban areas.

Rachel Maclean: The Government is committed to levelling up the country to provide equal opportunity for all and recognises the vital importance public transport plays in supporting the economy and bringing society together across rural and urban areas. The Department currently publishes tables of estimated travel time to key services by different modes in Journey times to key services (JTS01) with different levels of rural/urban areas. This can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/journey-time-statistics-data-tables-jts#journey-times-to-key-services-jts01 In addition to this, the National Travel Survey (NTS) provides a range of measures which include a breakdown by Rural / Urban classification which can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/nts99-travel-by-region-and-area-type-of-residence

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Inquiries

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by his Department.

Nadhim Zahawi: The non-statutory Magnox Inquiry is currently underway, which is an independent inquiry into the award of the Magnox decommissioning contract by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and its subsequent termination. Once convened, public inquiries are run independently of the Government. The Department supports and cooperates fully with all public inquiries as required.

Small Businesses: Government Assistance

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to provide support to small businesses not eligible for Small Business Grant Scheme because they are not liable for business rates as a result of not occupying a hereditament.

Paul Scully: The Government has announced a package of support for businesses to help with their ongoing business costs in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. This package of support includes the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF). In addition, on 1 May, the Government announced that up to £617 million is being made available to Local Authorities in England to allow them to provide discretionary grants. The Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund (LADGF) is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs but not liable for business rates or rates reliefs.  Local Authorities are responsible for defining precise eligibility for this fund and may choose to make payments based on local economic need, subject to the recipient businesses meeting the specific eligibility criteria.Guidance, intended to support Local Authorities in administering the Discretionary Grants Fund, was published 13 May and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding.   Where businesses have been advised by the relevant local authority that they are not eligible for these schemes, they should be able to benefit from other measures in the Government’s unprecedented package of support for business, including: An option to defer VAT payments by up to twelve months;The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, now extended to cover all businesses including those which would be able to access commercial credit;The Bounce Back Loan scheme, which will ensure that small and micro businesses can quickly access loans of up to £50,000 which are 100% guaranteed by the Government;The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, to support businesses with their wage bills;The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, to provide support to the self-employed. Further information on the other support available can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support.

Disability: Retail Trade

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to monitor the effect on disabled people of the new covid-19 related rules on shopping.

Paul Scully: The Government took into account people with disabilities when developing the guidance.The safer workplaces guidance provides some suggestions to help employers make their workplaces COVID-19 secure for their employees, visitors and customers. We expect all businesses to approach reopening in a sensible way, taking account of the Government’s guidance and discussing with neighbouring businesses and their local authorities where applicable. Our guidance does not replace existing employment, health and safety or equalities legislation. It provides information to employers on how best to meet these responsibilities in the context of COVID-19.

Small Business Grants Fund

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will issue guidance to local authorities to allow (a) businesses whose business rates are included in their rent and (b) regular market traders to apply for the funds through the Discretionary Grant Scheme.

Nadhim Zahawi: On 1 May, the Government announced that up to £617 million has been made available to local authorities in England to allow them to provide discretionary grants. The Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs that are not liable for business rates or rates reliefs. We are asking local authorities to prioritise the following types of businesses for grants from within this funding pot: Small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces. Examples could include units in industrial parks, science parks, and incubators which do not have their own business rates assessment.Regular market traders with fixed building costs, such as rent, who do not have their own business rates assessment.Bed & breakfasts which pay Council Tax instead of business rates.Charity properties in receipt of Charitable Rate Relief, which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief. Local authorities are responsible for defining the precise eligibility for this Fund and may choose to make payments to other businesses based on local economic need, subject to those businesses meeting the specific eligibility criteria.  Guidance to support local authorities to administer the Fund was published on 13 May at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding.

Catering and Public Houses: Social Distancing

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing additional assistance grants or support for pubs, cafes and restaurants with limited outside space that will not be able to re-open as soon as others as a result of covid-19 social distancing measures.

Paul Scully: All pubs, restaurants, bars, and cafes in England can begin to offer on-site services to customers from Saturday 4 July, as long as they follow the COVID-secure guidelines, found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/updates. This includes both outdoor and indoor spaces. The Government has also announced measures to ease pavement licensing as part of the Business and Planning Bill, which will allow businesses to provide outdoor seating in order to serve more customers while following the COVID-secure guidelines. The Department continues to engage with businesses and their representatives from across the hospitality sector and the support available is kept under review.

Flexible Working: Coronavirus

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department is taking to ensure suitable flexible working arrangements for people with disabilities in the context of the covid-19 outbreak.

Paul Scully: The Government is committed to supporting disabled people affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. The Government continues to support disabled employees to access assistive technology and other forms of support they need to remain in work. For example, Access to Work is continuing to provide support for people with a disability or health condition whether they are working in the workplace or are working from home.Currently the Government advice is that people should be working from home where it is possible to do so. Employers have particular responsibilities towards disabled workers including making reasonable adjustments to avoid disabled workers being put at a disadvantage.The law is clear: to discriminate directly or indirectly, against anyone because of a protected characteristic such as age, sex or disability, race or ethnicity is unlawful. All equality and discrimination laws and obligations continue to apply during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Arts: Intellectual Property

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the level of reliance of UK creative industries on UK-based trade mark attorneys; what assessment he has made of trends in the level of that reliance after the transition period; and if he will make a statement.

Amanda Solloway: The UK’s highly skilled legal profession play a vital role in advising UK businesses in the creative sector, and indeed across all sectors, on how to make the most from their IP portfolios Officials at the Intellectual Property Office are having ongoing conversations with representative bodies over how to best address any issues they may face once the transition period ends.

Tidal Power

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to encourage the development of tidal power projects.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Renewable electricity generation has more than quadrupled since 2010. A record 52.6% of electricity came from low-carbon sources in 2018.We have the world’s largest offshore wind capacity at 9.8GW with CfD auction prices for offshore wind falling by two-thirds between 2015 and 2019.Tidal energy could still have a potentially important role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK. It has to reduce its costs sufficiently, however, to compete with other renewable technologies.

Hospitality Industry: Coronavirus

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will confirm as soon as possible whether hospitality businesses will be able to open (a) indoor and (b) outdoor spaces from 4 July 2020.

Paul Scully: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister has announced that, from 4 July pubs, restaurants, bars and cafes (including workplace canteens) in England will be able to reopen both their outdoor and indoor spaces and offer on-site services to customers, provided they are COVID-secure and follow Government guidance. The updated guidance can be found at the GOV.UK website.

Hospitality Industry: Coronavirus

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether hospitality businesses will be able to open their outdoor spaces only from 4 July 2020.

Paul Scully: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister has announced that, from 4 July pubs, restaurants, bars and cafes (including workplace canteens) in England will be able to reopen both their outdoor and indoor spaces and offer on-site services to customers, provided they are COVID-secure and follow Government guidance. The updated guidance can be found at the GOV.UK website.

Hospitality Industry: Coronavirus

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the planned reopening of hospitality venues from 4 July 2020 will occur simultaneously with potential revisions to the two metre social distancing rule.

Paul Scully: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister has announced that, from 4 July pubs, restaurants, bars and cafes (including workplace canteens) in England will be able to reopen both their outdoor and indoor spaces and offer on-site services to customers, provided they are COVID-secure and follow Government guidance. Businesses should refer to the guidance that has been issued, and the updated guidance can be found at Gov.uk website. Our advice is changing to state that people should either stay 2m apart or, where this is not possible, ‘1m plus’ – which is one metre plus mitigations. These mitigations will depend on the workplace or setting.

Housing: Energy

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support households to improve their energy efficiency.

Kwasi Kwarteng: In the Clean Growth Strategy, the Government set an aspiration for as many homes as possible to be Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band C by 2035 and is developing a suite of mutually supporting policies and measures that will help deliver this:Our current Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme and its successors will drive over £6bn of additional investment to support energy improvements in low-income, vulnerable and fuel poor households between 2018 and 2028. Government is currently considering what the objectives and overall ambition of a successor ECO scheme should be, from 2022 to 2026.In order to improve rented properties, we introduced the Private Rented Sector Minimum standard regulations on 1 April 2018. The regulations require landlords to bring their properties to EPC Band E or above. We will consult on tightening the minimum energy standards in due course.We have also committed to consult on requirements for mortgage lenders to help households improve the energy efficiency of the homes they lend to and last summer we launched the £5m Green Home Finance Innovation Fund to support the development of green finance products. There are 21.5 million smart and advanced meters across Great Britain, as of the end of March 2020. As part of a smart meter installation, households are offered an In-Home Display which provides near-real time information on energy consumption and costs, enabling consumers to easily understand how they can use less energy and save money on their bills. Research shows that 73% of people with smart meters have taken steps to reduce their energy use.In addition, we have launched Simple Energy Advice, a digital platform offering impartial and tailored advice for consumers on how to make their homes more energy efficient.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Opinion

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) focus groups in each month since January 2019.

Nadhim Zahawi: The expenditure with our primary market research provider, Kantar UK LTD, between January 2019 and March 2020 was £4 million. The table below shows spend by month. We are unable to breakdown the expenditure into the activities undertaken by the supplier. MonthSpendJan-19201,138Feb-19178,337Mar-19691,451Apr-19901,263May-19333,556Jun-1957,000Jul-1939,476Aug-19242,270Sep-19350,683Oct-1954,369Nov-19281,817Dec-1937,824Jan-2047,942Feb-20187,725Mar-20407,757Total4,012,608

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the level of interest rates in a lender’s normal pricing framework is a factor in determining whether that company is accredited as a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme lender.

Paul Scully: Interest rates are one of a range of factors taken into consideration when the British Business Bank reviews a lender’s application to become a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) delivery partner. The accreditation agreement makes clear that the interest rate at which the lender is prepared to lend at, and any associated fees, should be based on a lender’s normal pricing framework. The Government expects that the benefit of the CBILS guarantee is passed through to the borrower. This should be reflected in the interest rate and lender-levied fees that are charged on each CBILS facility, both during the period of the Business Interruption Payment and for the remainder of the facility.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether accredited Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme lenders are permitted to charge interest rates above 10 per cent for loans through that scheme.

Paul Scully: The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is being delivered by more than 90 accredited lenders operating across the market. Lenders of the CBILS are permitted to set interest rates above 10%. The interest rate charged on a CBILS facility is at the discretion of the Lender, in line with their own policies, as would be the case with any commercial facility. Under the CBILS scheme, SMEs do however benefit from lower initial costs, as the government provides a 'Business Interruption Payment' to cover any interest and Lender-levied fees within the first 12 months. Therefore, the interest rate, and any associated fees, should be determined based on lenders' normal pricing framework and take into account the benefits and costs of the guarantee. The Government also guarantees 80% of a CBILS facility and lenders must pass the economic benefit of the existence of this guarantee to the borrower through lower pricing than it may otherwise have had. For further information about interest rates after the initial 12-month period, businesses should speak to their lender on what interest rates they will charge after this time.

Small Business Commissioner

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when a permanent Small Business Commissioner will be appointed.

Paul Scully: Officials expect to launch an open recruitment campaign in due course to appoint a permanent Small Business Commissioner.

Small Businesses: Billing

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many late payment cases the Small Business Commissioner has successfully tackled in each year since the office was created; and what the value of recovered payments has been in each year since its creation.

Paul Scully: Since its creation in December 2017, the Small Business Commissioner has handled a total of 101 cases and recovered a total of £7,353,234.70, broken down as follows: January 2018 – December 2018: £443,023.80 (10 cases);January 2019 – December 2019: £5,993,178.99 (52 cases); andJanuary 2020 – 25 June 2020: £917,031.91 (39 cases).

Business: Government Assistance

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether there are plans for additional recovery roundtables further to those announced on 15 June 2020.

Paul Scully: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State held this series of roundtables as part of an intensive programme of engagement to inform the Government’s approach to economic recovery. The Department will continue to hold regular extensive engagement with stakeholders across all sectors and to work with stakeholders towards a clean, resilient recovery that will create new opportunities for long-term growth and improved productivity in parts of the country that have been worst affected.

Horse Riding: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the eligibility criteria for (a) racing stables and (b) riding schools & Livery stables to access the covid-19 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Scully: Under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF) businesses in England that would have been in receipt of the Expanded Retail Discount (which covers retail, hospitality and leisure) on 11 March 2020, with a rateable value of less than £51,000, will be eligible for cash grants of up to £25,000 per property. Private stables are included in the guidance as an example of ineligible hereditaments. However, this is not intended to rule out all stables. If a stable is a genuine commercial enterprise and meets all the other criteria such as being eligible for rates relief under the expanded retail discount scheme, then they can qualify for a grant. It would be up to local authorities to decide whether the stable in question was for personal/private or commercial use. Guidance intended to support local authorities in administering this fund was first published on 24 March and can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/881040/business_support_grants-local_authorities_guidance.pdf. Guidance for Local Authorities on the Expanded Retail Discount Scheme can be found here:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/877758/Expanded_Retail_Discount_Guidance_02.04.20.pdf.

Pubs and Restaurants: Coronavirus

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Information Commissioner on pubs and restaurants being required to collect the names and addresses of customers after they reopen on 4 July 2020 as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the ability of pubs and restaurants to collect, process and handle the data collection required of them as part of the plans for their reopening on 4 July 2020; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Scully: The Department for Health and Social Care is responsible for the NHS Test and Trace programme. Following the announcement that some businesses will be asked to keep a temporary record of their customers and visitors, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy hosted a meeting with representatives of the hospitality and hairdressing sector on 26 June. The Information Commissioner was involved in the discussions.

Pubs and Restaurants: Coronavirus

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will list the dates of meetings he has held with pub and restaurant trade bodies to discuss their reopening on 4 July 2020.

Paul Scully: The Government holds many meetings with companies, including representatives from the public house and restaurant trade bodies to discuss a wide range of business issues, including their reopening from 4 July 2020. Details of meetings held by Ministers in the Department are recorded in our transparency data, which is published at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/beis-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings

Charities: Finance

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on medical research charities; and if he will make a statement.

Amanda Solloway: Ministers in BEIS and officials have met regularly with the Association of Medical Research Charities and their members over the last months. The AMRC have shared information on the potential challenges as a result of Covid-19, in particular on the extent of cancer related research which they support in universities. We are aware of range of risks to the sustainability of universities research from potential loss of income from international students from other research funders, such as charities.On 27th June, we announced a major package of support for universities to enable them to continue their research and innovation activities that are being impacted by Covid-19. From the Autumn, Government will provide a package consisting of low-interest loans with long pay-back periods, supplemented by a small amount of government grants, to cover up to 80% of a university’s income losses from international students for the academic year 20/21, up to the value of their non-publicly funded research activity. Universities will need to demonstrate how these funds are being utilised to sustain research in areas typically funded by charities and business.

Employment

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Department for Work and Pensions Committee report, DWP's response to the coronavirus outbreak, published on 22 June 2020, what the planned timescale is for bringing forward the Employment Bill; and whether that Bill will contain provisions for people in low-paid work and the gig economy.

Paul Scully: This Government has a proud history of protecting and enhancing workers’ rights. We remain committed to delivering the workers’ rights enhancements set out in our 2019 manifesto. We have already made significant progress in implementing recommendations arising from the Taylor Review, including legislating for stronger protections for vulnerable agency workers and extending the right to a written statement to workers. We have passed legislation that means almost 300,000 workers, including people in low-paid work and the gig economy, will have a right to a payslip for the first time. This helps workers in the flexible economy to better understand their pay and identify if their employer is not meeting their minimum pay obligations. As we set out in our 2019 recent Manifesto, this Government is committed to continue building on this record by testing proposals to ensure that people are treated fairly at work. However, as Matthew Taylor himself has said, many of his recommendation are complex and highly technical to implement. It is only right that we take time to consider how best to achieve change that works for all. We continue to work with stakeholders to test proposals, thus ensuring that employment law reflects the reality of modern and new working relationships. We intend to make further announcements on the next stages in due course.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Saudi Arabia: Internally Displaced People

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Saudi Arabian counterpart on the reported forced eviction of 20,000 members of the Huwaitat tribe to make way for a new city, NEOM; and whether the Government will rescind its offer to help develop that project.

James Cleverly: The NEOM City is part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 programme for socio-economic reform. We are aware of the reports of evictions in the area. We welcome the Saudi announcement on 20 June to grant plots of land, housing, compensation and provide job opportunities to residents within the project area. Saudi Arabia remains a Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights priority country, and we regularly raise areas of concern with the Saudi authorities at all levels.

Nigeria: Violence

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make urgent representations his Nigerian counterpart on undertaking full investigations into cases of military complicity in violence against Christians and human rights abuses.

James Duddridge: The UK is firmly committed to promoting and protecting human rights around the world. We have made clear to the Nigerian authorities, at the highest levels, the importance of protecting civilians, including all ethnic and religious groups, and human rights for all Nigerians. We are aware of allegations of military complicity in attacks on communities of all faiths. We call for allegations of human rights abuses or excessive use of force to be investigated and those responsible for any abuses to be held to account.Following allegations of human rights abuses made regarding Nigerian military detention facilities in Amnesty International's recent report, 'We Dried Our Tears', the British High Commissioner raised our concerns with the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs calling for a full investigation into the allegations and prosecution of any individuals found to have committed abuses. We reiterate that the UK Government does not provide any support to the military detention facilities mentioned.

Sahel: Violence

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his UN counterparts on resolving conflict involving farmers and herders (a) in Nigeria and (b) across the Sahel region.

James Duddridge: The UK remains concerned about the deteriorating security situation in parts of Nigeria, and in the Sahel. The UK Government routinely engages with the UN and its agencies on conflict resolution in Nigeria, including through our Mission in New York and the UN's Office for West Africa & the Sahel (UNOWAS).I met the head of UNOWAS in February during my visit to Mauritania where I attended the first meeting of the Sahel Alliance General Assembly and the sixth Summit of the G5 Leaders. We discussed security in the region. We have encouraged efforts by UNOWAS to develop regional solutions to preventing and resolving disputes between farming and herding communities. In particular, we encourage UNOWAS to increase engagement with regional governments on efforts to address the long-term causes and drivers of the violence. I have also raised insecurity in the Sahel with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the African Union, Hannah Tetteh.The deteriorating security situation in the Sahel is characterised by both extremist violence and intercommunal conflict, including between farmers and herders. We are the third largest humanitarian donor to the region and committed to tackling the long-term drivers of instability, including factors relating to governance, conflict resolution and access to basic services.We reiterated our commitment to the region in UK statements on 5 June at the UN Security Council and my statement at the Sahel Coalition meeting on 12 June. These set out our intention to work with the UN, G5 Sahel countries and international partners to ensure peace, stability, sustainable development and justice for the people of the Sahel. Later this year, the UK will be deploying to the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA. This will strengthen the Mission's ability to protect civilians from the impacts of conflict in Mali.

Cyprus: Foreign Relations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the exclusion of representatives of Turkey and Turkish Cypriots from talks between the UK Government and the Greek Cypriot Administration and the 1960 Cyprus Treaty of Guarantee.

Wendy Morton: We regularly engage with the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey. We use the opportunity of these contacts to urge progress towards a settlement. Ultimately, it is for the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to agree on the details of any final Settlement deal. This will require the agreement of the two leaders, the support of Greece and Turkey and - importantly - successful referenda in each community. The UK has always made clear that we are open to whatever arrangements the two sides and other Guarantor Powers can agree to meet the security needs of the two Cypriot communities.

Poland: LGBT People

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Polish counterpart on LGBTQ+ rights in that country.

Wendy Morton: The UK is implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination and committed to promoting and protecting the rights and freedoms of LGBT people in all circumstances. Our Embassy in Warsaw is working actively on this agenda and is engaged in dialogue on it with both civil society and government.The Embassy has established itself as one of the diplomatic missions in Warsaw that is most active on the LGBT agenda. During last year's Pride season, it brought the diplomatic community in Warsaw together to endorse a joint letter expressing support for LGBT equality and respect for human rights. Over 50 diplomatic missions signed. The Embassy flies the Rainbow flag annually for International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia and flew it again over the weekend of 20/21 June as part of its activity to promote Pride Month.

China: Overseas Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance his Department has been spent in China in each of the last five years.

Nigel Adams: Holding answer received on 25 June 2020



All information on FCO ODA spending is available at GOV.UK link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development

Sudan: Coronavirus

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of UK nationals stranded in Sudan as a result of the Sudanese Government closing commercial airports in response to the covid-19 pandemic.

James Duddridge: The UK Government has helped over 200 British travellers return to the UK from Sudan on a HMG special chartered flight on 21 May. When commercial flights were available, the embassy highlighted these to British traveller through its Travel Advice and social media channels. They also worked with international partners to enable British travellers to return on other countries' charter flights. There are currently no further HMG special charter flights planned but we welcome the decision by Emirates to offer a commercial flight from Khartoum to Dubai on 26 June which anyone wishing to depart Sudan could consider.We believe that the majority of those British travellers in Sudan who are able and wished to leave have taken one of these available means of return. Some appear to have decided not to return at this point. It is difficult to be precise on the numbers of British travellers who still wish to return home because there have been instances of multiple registrations by the same individual, people not reporting their return to the UK via other means, and long term residents registering for flights even though they were not eligible. Through our embassy in Khartoum, officials are in regular contact with those British travellers who have expressed a desire to return to the UK. We encourage British travellers in Sudan wishing to return to the UK to visit our Travel Advice page: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sudan which is regularly updated to ensure that those wishing to return are aware of further developments.

China: Dogs

Robert Courts: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Chinese Government on (a) the treatment of dogs and (b) general hygiene practices during that country's Yulin Dog Meat Festival which is taking place from 21 to 30 June 2020.

Nigel Adams: The UK Government is committed to raising standards of animal welfare at home and abroad. The sale and consumption of dog meat is legal in many countries, including China, and there are no international norms, laws or agreements governing this. We believe that it is necessary to work with Governments around the world to gain agreement on animal welfare standards, and to phase out cruel and inhumane practices. There is no suggestion that the event will break any local or international laws. We have previously raised our concerns on specific animal welfare issues with the Chinese authorities and will continue to do so.

Syria: Sanctions

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of increased economic sanctions by the US Administration on the Syrian Government on achieving the reauthorisation of humanitarian and medical aid border crossings under UN Security Council Resolution 2504, due for renewal by 10 July 2020.

James Cleverly: We welcome US statements that these new sanctions are targeted and humanitarian exemptions continue to apply. As such, we do not believe that they should impact current negotiations regarding UN Security Council Resolution 2504. The renewal is a matter for the UN Security Council and the UK continues to be vocal on the need for cross-border aid into both north-west and north-east Syria.

Violence: Gender

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans the Government has to raise the matter of gender-based violence at the next meeting of the UN Security Council.

Nigel Adams: COVID-19 has reinforced the urgency to tackle pervasive and endemic gender-based violence. The UN Security Council will be an important platform to demonstrate the UK's continued leadership on Violence against Women and Girls and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict as part of our broader ambitions on gender equality. This includes the upcoming UN Security Council Open video-conference on Women, Peace and Security on 17 July, which will focus on conflict-related sexual violence.The UK has led efforts to strengthen language on conflict-related sexual violence through UN Security Council Peacekeeping Mandates and Resolutions. In April 2019, we advocated and voted for UN Security Council Resolution 2467 on sexual violence in conflict. This specified the importance of a survivor-centric approach in response to conflict-related sexual violence, highlighted the need to support children born of sexual violence, promoted specific language on sexual violence in sanction regimes, and also referenced the Mukwege Foundation/Nadia Initiative Global Survivors Fund.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Public Opinion

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) focus groups in each month since January 2019.

Nigel Adams: This information is not held centrally and to compile it would incur disproportionate cost.

Myanmar: Children

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take diplomatic steps to hold the Myanmar military to account for the killing, maiming sexual violence against children identified in the UN Secretary-General's Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict, published on 9 June 2020.

Nigel Adams: The UK is clear that the Myanmar Military is responsible for gross human rights violations across the country. This includes grave violations against children. On 23 June, I [Minister Adams] spoke to the Myanmar Minister for International Cooperation. I [Minister Adams] encouraged Myanmar to continue to engage with the International Court of Justice process, and highlighted the need for dialogue to deescalate the conflict in Rakhine which has seen a significant increase in crimes against children in the first half of this year. The UK has already imposed sanctions, through the EU, on members of the Myanmar military responsible for serious human rights violations. The UK led the international effort to establish the UN Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar (IIMM), which will collect and preserve evidence for us in future domestic or international accountability processes.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Overseas Aid

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which Official Development Assistance programmes that his Department funds are targeted at supporting women and girls.

Wendy Morton: The UK's Gender Equality Act 2014 (an amendment to 2002 International Development Act, IDA), legally requires all overseas development funding to meaningfully consider the impact of how it will contribute to reducing gender inequality. The UK Aid Strategy prioritises the rights of women and girls under its fourth strategic goal of tacking extreme poverty and helping the world's most vulnerable.The FCO supports a number of Official Development Assistance programmes targeted at promoting girls' education, empowering women peacebuilders and supporting female survivors of sexual violence in conflict. The programmes include lobbying efforts encouraging foreign governments to prioritise girls' education reforms, financial support for women mediator organisations, capacity building programmes for female judges and women peacebuilders and consultations with survivors of sexual violence. Additional information on the FCO's ODA programmes can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/official-development-assistance-fco-programme-spend

British Nationals Abroad: Coronavirus

Marco Longhi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether additional flights are being planned to repatriate British citizens who missed the deadline to apply for chartered flights during the covid-19 pandemic.

Nigel Adams: Since the outbreak in Wuhan, we estimate that over 1.3 million people have returned to the UK via commercial routes - the majority supported by our work to keep vital routes open. We have brought home over 38,000 people on 186 special charter flights organised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, from 57 countries and territories.We believe the vast majority of British travellers seeking to return to the UK - who don't have commercial options - have now done so. Through our embassies, and a dedicated central team, we continue to support British nationals who need consular support and are working to ensure commercial routes are maintained. While no charter flights are currently planned, we are monitoring risks globally and continue to review how best to provide assistance where necessary. Our travel advice and social media pages are also regularly updated to ensure that those wishing to return are aware of further developments.

Chile: Human Rights

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Chilean counterpart on reports of alleged human rights violations by Chilean police.

Wendy Morton: Holding answer received on 29 June 2020



Our Ambassador in Chile has talked with representatives of the Chilean Government to express our concerns about the violence witnessed during protests and about reports of human rights abuses by state agents. We welcome the Chilean Government's acceptance of the UN's human rights report and its recommendations and the Chilean Government's assurances, in public and to our Ambassador, that allegations of human rights abuses will be investigated fully and that perpetrators will be prosecuted. Our Embassy in Santiago remains in close contact with the Chilean authorities and will continue to monitor the situation.

Chile: Human Rights

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of defining Chile as a human rights priority country.

Wendy Morton: Holding answer received on 29 June 2020



The UK Government is concerned about events that have occurred in Chile. Our Ambassador in Chile has expressed our concerns about the violence witnessed during protests in 2019 and about reports of human rights abuses to the Chilean Government. We welcome the Chilean Government's recognition that there have been human rights abuses and their assurances, in public and to our Ambassador, that allegations of human rights abuses will be investigated fully, and that perpetrators will be prosecuted. We continue to monitor the human rights situation in Chile closely.

Hussein Abdullah Khalil Rashid and Zuhair Ebrahim Jassim Abdullah Abas

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to Early Day Motion 630 of Session 2019-21, if he will (a) publicly condemn the 15 June 2020 decision of Bahrain’s highest court to uphold death sentences against Husain Abdullah Khalil Rashid and Zuhair Ibrahim Jasim Abdullah following concerns of serious due process violations and the alleged coercion of Zuhair’s confession through torture and (b) make representations to his counterpart in Bahrain on the immediate commutation of their death sentences.

James Cleverly: Holding answer received on 29 June 2020



We have raised the cases of Zuhair Ibrahim Jasim Abdullah and Hussein Abdullah Khalil Rashid at a senior level with the Government of Bahrain.The Government of Bahrain is fully aware that the UK is firmly opposed to the death penalty, in all circumstances. The right to a fair trial is enshrined in the constitution of Bahrain; we continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to follow due process in all cases and meet its international and domestic human rights commitments.

Cameroon: Coronavirus

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the security situation in Cameroon during the covid-19 pandemic.

James Duddridge: The UK Government remains deeply concerned about the situation in the North-West and South-West (Anglophone) regions of Cameroon. As the UK highlighted at a United Nations Security Council briefing on Central Africa, on 12 June, high levels of violence are having tragic consequences on civilians. These could be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.The UK has contributed approximately £540,000 to UNICEF to support with the COVID-19 response and related water, sanitation and hygiene activities in Cameroon. We have also contributed approximately £60,000 to the Centre Pasteur Cameroun to decentralise COVID-19 testing across the country, in support of the Government of Cameroon's National Response Plan. On 20 May the UK Government also announced investment of up to £20 million in the new African Union COVID-19 Response Fund, which will be used to tackle coronavirus, and save lives, including in Cameroon.The UK welcomes the UN Secretary-General's call in February on armed actors to refrain from attacks against civilians in Cameroon. We also welcome his call on 23 March for an immediate global ceasefire in armed conflicts, and his appeal to open up spaces for diplomacy, protect the most vulnerable, allow humanitarian access, and focus our collective energies on fighting COVID-19.On 19 May I spoke to the Prime Minister of Cameroon and discussed the need for a peaceful solution to the conflict. It is imperative that people are not prohibited by the violence from accessing testing or wider humanitarian assistance. We continue to call for an end to the violence in the North-West and South-West regions, and have shared experiences on conflict resolution with the Government of Cameroon. We will continue to work with international partners to support the restoration of peace in these regions, at the same time as we support Cameroon, and other African partners, to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on peace and security.

Zimbabwe: Abduction

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Zimbabwe on allegations of maltreatment and abduction of opposition activists Cecilia Chimbiri, Netsai Marowa, and Joana Mamombe MP; and what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in that country.

James Duddridge: Holding answer received on 29 June 2020



As I said in the House on 11 May, I had been an optimist on Zimbabwe post-Mugabe, but things are bleak across the political, economic, social and humanitarian fronts.The UK is particularly concerned about the challenging human rights situation. I spoke to the Zimbabwean Foreign Minister on 8 June and expressed my deep concern regarding recent reports of the abduction and torture of Cecilia Chimbiri, Netsai Marowa, and Joana Mamombe. I urged the Foreign Minister to ensure the Government of Zimbabwe makes concrete progress on human rights, including investigations into violations.It is vital that the Zimbabwean authorities adhere to their international human rights obligations and respect their Constitution, which prohibits enforced disappearances and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. This was reiterated in a joint local statement issued on 20 May by the UK alongside other partners, including Ambassadors from the European Union, France, Germany and the United States of America. The UK will continue to monitor developments in Zimbabwe closely and call for the Government of Zimbabwe to uphold the rule of law and respect human rights.

Guinea: Coronavirus

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) political and human rights situation in the Republic of Guinea and (b) the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on that country.

James Duddridge: Holding answer received on 29 June 2020



The UK Government is concerned by the deteriorating human rights and political environment in Guinea and the demonstrations that have led to violence in recent months. On 27 February, I set out the UK Government's deep concern over the violence and civilian deaths, following the announcement of legislative elections in Guinea and in the lead up to the referendum on the constitution. The elections and referendum were then postponed until 22 March. We urge the Government of Guinea to respect democratic institutions and all forms of human rights, including the right to peaceful protest. It was deeply saddening that there was a further loss of life on the day the election and referendum were held in Guinea. The UK has urged the Government of Guinea to ensure that all deaths are properly investigated. We encourage all parties, the Government and the Opposition, to engage in constructive dialogue, refrain from violence and protect democracy.We continue to raise our concerns with representatives of the Government of Guinea, through our Ambassador in Conakry, on civic and political issues including the importance of respect for the rule of law, and the need for elections to be free and fair. The UK will continue to work with the Government of Guinea, international partners and regional institutions both to support Guinea's democracy and stability and to improve the day-to-day lives of all Guineans.The elections took place against the challenging context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are working with the Government of Guinea to support them in their own response to COVID-19. To support the people of Guinea, we are funding a programme of mass media communications to increase the public's awareness and understanding of the pandemic, and we have offered the Government of Guinea technical assistance in responding to the economic impacts of COVID-19.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have had with (i) the UN Secretary-General and (ii) his officials about the decision to remove the Saudi and Emirati coalition from the UN list of perpetrators of grave violations against children in conflict zones in 2019.

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UN Secretary-General's decision to remove the Saudi-led Coalition from his annual list of perpetrators of grave violations against children in conflict zones despite verified evidence of ongoing grave violations against children committed by the coalition in Yemen in 2019.

James Cleverly: At the UN Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict on 23 June, the UK reaffirmed our commitment to tackling violations against children in armed conflict and highlighted the need for a transparent and credible framework for accountability based on a standardised and evidence-backed approach to de-listing and listing of state and non-state actors for violations. The UK takes extremely seriously allegations of abuses against children in armed conflict. We strongly support the work of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and continue to fund her office and work. The UK regularly raises the importance of human rights with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, including at senior levels. The Coalition must protect children's rights and continue to take positive steps to protect children in armed conflict, such as by implementing the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the UN and Saudi Arabia in March 2019.

British Council: Coronavirus

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) amount of revenue lost by the British Council in English teaching abroad programmes as a result of the covid-19 pandemic and (b) length of time it will take the British Council to return to pre-covid-19 revenue levels.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with representatives from the British Council on future service cuts resulting from reduced income during the covid-19 outbreak.

Nigel Adams: Holding answer received on 29 June 2020



The British Council's commercial income has been heavily hit by Covid-19. We are currently finalising the terms of a £60m loan which will stabilize the Council's financial situation until mid-August 2020, while we conduct a strategic review of the Council's future strategy, operations and long-term sustainable funding models. Discussions are ongoing about the recommendations of this review.

British Council: Coronavirus

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the ability of the British Council to provide English teaching programmes through digital platforms; and what additional resources his Department has made available to the British Council to continue English teaching abroad programmes digitally.

Nigel Adams: Holding answer received on 29 June 2020



Covid-19 has had a huge impact on the British Council's ability to operate, with the majority of their English language centres closed. The British Council has adapted quickly to the crisis by moving to digital in many areas. For example, they are now delivering online English teaching to 85,000 students in 44 countries, and have created new digital products including the IELTS indicator test as an interim measure for international customers.The FCO is finalising the terms of a £60m loan to support the British Council through to mid-August while we conduct a strategic review of their business. Conversations are ongoing about the recommendations of the review and how that will impact future services and funding.

China: India

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the recent military skirmishes on the Himalayan border between India and China; and if he will make a statement.

Nigel Adams: The Prime Minister commented in Parliament on 24 June that we are monitoring the situation closely and that we encourage both India and China to engage in dialogue. The status of the India-China border is a bilateral issue and we welcome the call between Foreign Ministers Wang Yi and Jaishankar on 17 June, the meeting between Army Commanders on 22 June, and the agreement that both sides would take steps to de-escalate.

Brazil: Politics and Government

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Brazil.

Wendy Morton: The UK and Brazil have a close dialogue on both bilateral and global issues of mutual interest including the environment, science and trade. Brazil is a key partner in the global response to Covid-19 and our countries are working together to find a vaccine. UK Ministers and our Embassy and Consulates in Brazil regularly engage with the Brazilian Government and we will continue to monitor the situation.

Saudi Arabia: Human Rights

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has recently monitored the trials of Loujain al-Hathloul, Samar Badawi, Nassima al-Sada and others who comprise the 13 women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia on trial for reportedly peaceful activism.

James Cleverly: Holding answer received on 29 June 2020



We are monitoring the cases of Loujain al-Hathloul, Samar Badawi, Nassima al-Sada, and all women's rights defenders. The UK attends trials of international importance in all countries where permitted. The UK, along with other embassies in Saudi Arabia, consistently attempt to attend the trials of Women's Rights Defenders, and have been denied access since October 2018, with the exception of the trials for those involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.We remain concerned about the continued detention of women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia. The Foreign Secretary raised our concerns about the ongoing detention of political detainees, including women's rights defenders, with Saudi Ministers during his visit to Riyadh in March. We regularly raise areas of concern with the Saudi authorities at all levels, through Ministers, our Ambassador and our Embassy in Riyadh. We consistently underline the importance of political freedoms globally. This includes respect for the right to peaceful protest, the rule of law, and freedom of speech, the press, and assembly. We continue to raise concerns about individual cases regularly and monitor the situation closely.

USA: International Criminal Court

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of US sanctions on the International Criminal Court.

Nigel Adams: Holding answer received on 30 June 2020



The UK has always been, and remains, a strong supporter of an effective International Criminal Court (ICC). While we believe that positive reform is required for the ICC to fulfil its mandate as intended under the Rome Statute - and we are working with the Court and other States Parties to achieve this, we also believe that Court officials must be able to carry out their work independently and impartially, without fear of sanction.

USA: International Criminal Court

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with counterparts in (a) the US Administration and (b) the International Criminal Court on the US sanctions on the International Criminal Court.

Nigel Adams: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Conflict Resolution: Females

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Women, Peace and Security agenda will remain a Government and departmental priority of the new Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK national action plan on women, peace and security 2018 to 2022, published in January 2018, National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security will continue to be a priority when the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office is created.

Wendy Morton: The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda is an important component of the UK's work to promote human rights and support sustainable peace processes. 2020 is a key year for WPS due to the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. This Government is committed to marking the 20th anniversary, calling for renewed commitment by the international community to implement all of the WPS UN Security Council resolutions. The National Action Plan outlines our WPS strategy, and the UK remains committed to implementing it.The FCO and DFID already work closely to deliver both DFID's Strategic Vision and the National Action Plan on WPS. The Integrated Review of foreign policy is expected to conclude later in the year, which will define the Government's ambition for the UK's role in the world and its outcomes will shape the objectives of the new department. Gender equality and women's rights will remain a core part of the Government's mission and will be at the heart of the new department.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Taxis

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many private hire cars his Department has used since 2015; how long each journey was; and what the cost was of those journeys to the public purse.

Nigel Adams: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Overseas Aid: Females

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to maintain the current percentage of ODA expenditure on Gender Equality Marker 1 and 2 projects and programmes in when the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is created.

James Cleverly: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

USA: Human Rights

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his US counterpart on (a) the use of (i) choke holds and (ii) racial profiling and (b) other human rights violations carried out by US police forces.

Wendy Morton: The Foreign Secretary has been clear that the death of George Floyd was appalling, inexcusable and deeply distressing. We hope and trust that justice will be done. The violence we've seen in the US around this is very alarming. We've been clear that people must be allowed to protest peacefully. Our Embassy in the US has raised the issue of the protests with the US Administration and have explained the very strong interest in this issue among the British public.

*No heading*

Ian Lavery: What diplomatic steps the Government is taking to help provide protection and support for LGBT+ communities in eastern Europe.

Wendy Morton: The UK plays an active role in Eastern Europe and across the world in support of LGBT+ rights. We became co-chair of the Equal Rights Coalition (ERC) in June last year, in partnership with Argentina. The ERC is a group of 42 like-minded States that share best practice and promote LGBT equality globally. Our plan is to deliver an ERC Strategy and Action Plan to re-energise the ERC. In addition to this, our embassies across the region proudly fly the rainbow flag for International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT).

*No heading*

Gareth Davies: What diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help improve the security situation in the Sahel.

James Duddridge: The UK is working with partners to address instability. I attended international meetings on the Sahel earlier this month and in Mauritania in February. I stressed the importance of improving governance and respecting human rights.As part of our efforts, the UK is deploying 250 peacekeeping troops to Mali and has 3 RAF Chinook helicopters deployed to a Counter Terrorism operation. We are also one of largest humanitarian donors to the Sahel. Between 2015 and 2019, the UK provided humanitarian aid to 2.3 million across the region.

*No heading*

Cat Smith: What recent assessment he has made of the level of risk of Russian interference in UK democratic processes; and if the Government will publish the Intelligence and Security Committee's Russia report.

Wendy Morton: It is, and always will be, an absolute priority to protect our democratic and electoral processes. The Government took steps during the election to protect the safety and security of our democratic processes. The Government worked with a large number of organisations to do this, and would like to thank them for their continued support and work in this area.As you would expect, the Government examines all aspects of the electoral process, and that work is ongoing. With regards to the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report on Russia, the Prime Minister has cleared the report for publication, which is now a matter for the new Committee.

*No heading*

Mark Pawsey: What assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on the economies of African countries.

James Duddridge: The economic implications of COVID-19 will be huge for Africa, possibly worse than the health impact itself. The IMF predict the worst growth rates in Sub Saharan Africa since the 1970s – a recession for 2020 of -3.2%.I am therefore working with the IMF, World Bank and the African Union to ensure we support their efforts to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic across the continent, including through support to the IMF’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, and its Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, both of which will support African recovery.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Public Inquiries

Lee Anderson: To ask the Attorney General, if she will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by her Department.

Michael Ellis: The Attorney General’s Office is not currently undertaking any statutory or non-statutory public inquiries.

Attorney General: Public Opinion

Judith Cummins: To ask the Attorney General, how much his Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) focus groups each month since January 2019.

Michael Ellis: The Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Government Legal Department (GLD) and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) have not had any spending on opinion polling and focus groups since January 2019. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has spent £9,000 in May 2019, £9,000 in Nov 2019, £3,421 in Mar 2020 and £9,000 in May 2020 on opinion polling. The CPS has not had any spending on focus groups since Jan 2019. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) commissioned a short reputation survey from YouGov at a cost of £1100 + VAT on 30 May 2020 to inform and guide its work on communications and recruitment. There has been no other spending on opinion polls or focus groups since Jan 2019.

Department of Health and Social Care

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his announcement on 28 April 2020 that residents and staff of care homes would be tested for covid-19, how many tests on those (a) residents and (b) staff have been undertaken; and what proportion of those (a) residents and (b) staff have been tested since that date.

Helen Whately: Holding answer received on 18 May 2020



We are rapidly increasing our capability to deliver and successfully process test results all around the country. As at 7 June 2020, we have successfully delivered over one million individual test kits to our care homes. We will continue to upscale and meet the needs of all those in care settings.

Mental Health Services: Coronavirus

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of whether the number of (a) detentions under the Mental Health Act, (b) referrals to NHS community mental health teams and (c) presentations at A&E with a primary recorded psychiatric diagnosis has been affected by the covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Detentions under the Mental Health Act are measured through the Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS) published by NHS Digital. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with NHS Digital and the other arm’s-length bodies to get early access to MHSDS data where possible, to be able to explore trends in activity.In relation to referrals to National Health Service community mental health teams NHS England are aware that, through analysis of early access to MHSDS data, as well as via feedback from regional teams and providers, there has been a reduction in referrals since the start of the pandemic. To address this issue, NHS England and NHS Improvement have been emphasising that mental health services have remained open during the pandemic, providing a combination of care via digital channels and face to face where needed, and are working to ensure that referral routes, via primary care in particular, are clear.With regard to accident and emergency attendances for people with mental health needs, NHS England and NHS Improvement are undertaking an analysis of a sample of trusts’ submissions of Emergency Care Data Set data to explore trends.

Prisoners: Death

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to Answer of 8 June 2020 to Question 53405 on Prisoners: Death, in what format his Department holds the information requested.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 15 June 2020



Public Health England reports that it does not collect data on the number or proportion of people who served prison sentences and have died of a drug overdose or suicide. Information on deaths of offenders during post-release supervision in the community after a custodial sentence, by gender and apparent cause in England and Wales is available in the annual publication, ‘Deaths of offenders in the community’, which can be found at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/deaths-of-offenders-in-the-community-annual-update-to-march-2019

Social Services: Coronavirus

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the finding published on 4 June 2020 by the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Service that providers of adult social care services may face more than £6.6 billion in extra costs as a result of the covid-19 outbreak by the end of September 2020, what assessment he has made of the implications of that finding for his policies on adult social care; and whether he has plans to mitigate those costs to those providers.

Helen Whately: We recognise that COVID-19 is imposing significant pressures on the social care sector. We have now made £3.2 billion available to local authorities so they can address pressures on local services caused by the pandemic, including in adult social care. On 15 May we published details of an additional £600 million Infection Control Fund for Adult Social Care. This funding is to support adult social care providers in England reduce the rate of transmission in and between care homes and to support workforce resilience.

NHS: Mental Health

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to tackle the effect of NHS staffing shortages on the mental health of (a) student nurses and (b) NHS staff.

Helen Whately: Holding answer received on 22 June 2020



The Department continues to monitor overall staffing levels across the National Health Service (NHS), and we are working across Government to ensure there are sufficient staff to provide a high-quality service. We have committed to deliver 50,000 more nurses in the National Health Service This will help support the 1.4 million people who make up the NHS workforce and address the longstanding NHS nursing shortages that were identified in the Interim NHS People Plan. Over the last year the number of full-time equivalent nurses has gone from 282,422 to 294,553 – an increase of 12,131 nurses.NHS England and NHS Improvement launched an emotional, psychological and practical support package for all NHS staff on 8 April 2020, accessed via the following link:people.nhs.uk/help/

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions has he had with representatives from local authorities on proposals for (a) local and (b) regional lockdown measures.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Ministers have met with local authorities multiple times, including Tom Riordan attending a weekly Local Advisory Board chaired by the Chair of the Local Government Association.In the vast majority of cases, local public health teams are dealing very effectively with outbreaks and containing them to settings like workplaces or care homes.If local councils need additional powers to manage community flare ups, we will work with them to review how best this can be achieved, but we expect the majority of circumstances to be dealt with by public consent.We will do all we can to avoid full lockdowns, but we can not rule them out.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to issue guidance to local authorities on the (a) definition and (b) enforcement of a local lockdown.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Government wrote to all local authorities in May to ask them to produce Local Outbreak Control Plans, and have allocated £300 million to develop and implement these, including additional capacity.We have been working with them to produce hints and tips for outbreak plans, which has been shared. The Association of Directors of Public Health have also issued Guiding Principles.A further Framework for decision makers and Action Cards will be issued at the end of the month, setting out measures that can be taken.If local councils need additional powers to manage these, we will review if these can be delivered, but we expect the majority of circumstances to be dealt with by public consent.

Social Services: Hygiene

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will extend the scope of the Adult Social Care infection control fund grant to cleaning materials.

Helen Whately: Holding answer received on 23 June 2020



On 15 May we published details of an additional £600 million Infection Control Fund for Adult Social Care. This funding is to support adult social care providers in England reduce the rate of transmission in and between care homes and to support workforce resilience. Twenty-five percent of it may be used to support domiciliary care providers and support wider workforce resilience to deal with COVID-19 infections.

Department of Health and Social Care: Public Inquiries

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by his Department.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department is sponsoring the following current inquiries - The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review and the Linden Centre (North Essex Partnership Trust).

Pregnancy: Finance

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to introduce financial support to cover subsistence costs for parents with a baby receiving neonatal care during the covid-19 outbreak.

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the financial effect of the covid-19 outbreak on parents of babies born needing neonatal care during the outbreak.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Government recognises that these are challenging times for everyone, but that it is an especially stressful time for parents with babies in neonatal intensive care units.During the COVID-19 pandemic, services have been working hard to support parents to care for their babies as much as possible while still ensuring that services are safe.The Department has no plans to introduce a bespoke fund to cover subsistence costs for parents with a baby receiving neonatal care during the COVID-19 outbreak.The Government is providing funding for the charity Bliss to support families with babies that require neonatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of the Government’s United Kingdom-wide £750 million package of support for the voluntary sector announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in April 2020.

Department of Health and Social Care: Early Day Motions

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a response to EDM 521 on the UK law on disability-selective abortion.

Helen Whately: Holding answer received on 25 June 2020



Abortion is a sensitive area, Where there are strongly held moral and ethical views.Parliament decided the circumstances under which abortion can legally be undertaken. It would be for Parliament to decide whether to make any changes to the law on abortion. As with other matters of conscience, abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance and allows Members to vote according to their moral, ethical or religious beliefs.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to ensure that young people are able to access support for their mental health.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 29 June 2020



We are committed through the NHS Long Term Plan to investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year into mental health services by 2023-24. This will see an additional 345,000 children and young people able to access support through National Health Service-funded services or school- and college-based mental health support teams.To support adult and children whose mental health has been affected by the pandemic, we have provided £5 million of additional funding for mental health charities and, on 22 May, we announced a further £4.2 million to be awarded to mental health charities including those supporting children and young people such as Young Minds, as part of the Government’s United Kingdom-wide £750 million package of support for the voluntary sector.

Health Services: Prisoners

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the paper entitled Secondary care clinicians and staff have a key role in delivering equivalence of care for prisoners: A qualitative study of prisoners’ experiences, published in The Lancet: EClinicalMedicine on 23 June 2020.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Offenders should have access to the same range and quality of healthcare services as people in the community. Responsibility for the provision of health services in prisons sits with NHS England and NHS Improvement, which will no doubt want to take the findings of this report and any possible implications for the delivery of prison health services into account.

Pre-eclampsia: Diagnosis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to diagnose earlier the symptoms of pre-eclampsia in pregnant women.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Saving Babies’ Lives care bundle recommends the use of available algorithms to identify women at risk for pre-eclampsia. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, recommending treatment with aspirin from the first to the third trimester of pregnancy for women at risk of pre-eclampsia and associated preterm birth is in place.In 2019, the Accelerated Access Collaborative (which brings together industry, Government, regulators, patients and the National Health Service to accelerate the introduction of ground-breaking new treatments and diagnostics) began supporting implementation of a new Placental Growth Factor Blood test which can indicate whether a woman has the disease and whether they will need delivery soon.

Baby Care Units: Coronavirus

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the level of access to neonatal units by parents of new-born babies.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will introduce a subsistence fund to provide funding for parents from low-income families in England to spend time with their new-born babies in neonatal units.

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that parents in England are (a) encouraged and (b) financially supported to spend time with their newborn children in neonatal units during the covid-19 outbreak.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Government recognises that these are challenging times for everyone, but that it is an especially stressful time for parents with babies in neonatal intensive care units.During the COVID-19 pandemic, services have been working hard to support parents to care for their babies as much as possible while still ensuring that services are safe.The Department has no plans to introduce a bespoke fund to cover subsistence costs for parents with a baby receiving neonatal care during the COVID-19 outbreak.The Government is providing funding for the charity Bliss to support families with babies that require neonatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of the Government’s United Kingdom-wide £750 million package of support for the voluntary sector announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in April 2020.

Baby Care Units: Coronavirus

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to expand rapid testing for covid-19 in hospitals to the parents of newborn babies in neonatal units.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that parents with babies on neonatal units have urgent access to covid-19 testing.

Ms Nadine Dorries: During the COVID-19 pandemic, services have been working hard to support parents to care for their babies as much as possible while still ensuring that services are safe.Testing is a key part of the United Kingdom’s response to COVID-19, and, following the publication of the Government’s Testing Strategy we have rapidly expanded our capacity.We are now providing testing to anyone with symptoms (England and Northern Ireland; over fives in Wales and Scotland) Current clinical advice is that asymptomatic testing can be conducted where clinically appropriate, for outbreak investigation and infection control. These decisions are made by local decision makers based on patient and procedural risk.

Health

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on achieving parity of esteem for mental and physical health.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We have committed at least a further £2.3 billion a year to mental health services by 2023/24, which will see spending for mental health services growing faster than the overall National Health Service budget. For the first time, in 2018/19, all clinical commissioning groups increased the amount spent on mental health by at least as much as their overall budget increases.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed as clinically vulnerable or extremely clinically vulnerable and advised to shield after the 10 June 2020 cut-off date for applying to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Blood: Contamination

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent comparative assessment he has made of the equity of the level of financial support provided to people affected by the contaminated blood scandal in Wales and England.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Since 1988, successive Governments have voluntarily provided ex-gratia financial and non-financial support for people affected by HIV and/or hepatitis C through historic treatment with National Health Service-supplied blood or blood products in the 1970s and 1980s.In 2017, country specific support schemes were set up in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These four schemes are devolved, and each nation has made different choices around their offers of support over time.We are aware that there are disparities between the schemes, and we are working with our partners in the devolved nations and other relevant Government departments to improve parity of support for all beneficiaries across the United Kingdom.

Endoscopy: Staff

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the national shortfall in medical staff able to provide elective endoscopy services; and what steps he is taking to ensure that all NHS hospitals are urgently able to provide a six-day elective service.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HIV Infection

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on the HIV Expert Group and National HIV Action Plan, announced on 30 January 2019.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HIV Infection

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date the National HIV Action Plan will be published.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

HIV Infection

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who the members are of the National HIV Expert Group that is responsible for the National HIV Action Plan, announced on 30 January 2019.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Clipper Logistics: Finance

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of funding awarded to Clipper Logistics to oversee the delivery of personal protective equipment to NHS trusts and Foundation trusts.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Contact Tracing: Computer Software

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons contracts #12 and #13 pertaining to the NHS X contact tracing app have not yet been published; and when he plans to publish those contracts.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Services: Reform

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) plans and (b) support he is putting in place to reform the social care sector and help it recover from the covid-19 outbreak.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Services: Finance

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to put in place a comprehensive new spending package for the social care sector; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Postnatal Care: Mental Health Services

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the age adjusted access rate for perinatal mental health beds per 100,000 population is in each (a) Clinical Commissioning Group and (b) local authority area for the latest period for which figures are available..

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Abortion: Drugs

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that abortion pills taken at home are being taken under the 10-week gestation limit.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Abortion: Drugs

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many women have taken abortion pills at home after the 10-week gestation period limit; and what steps he has taken to ensure the pills are taken within the specified limit.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Abortion: Drugs

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that abortion pills to be taken at home are taken by the intended recipient.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Abortion: Drugs

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that women who take abortion pills at home have not been coerced.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Public Inquiries

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by his Department.

David T C Davies: The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales is not currently undertaking any public inquiries.

Wales Office: Public Opinion

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much his Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) focus groups in each month since January 2019.

David T C Davies: The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales has not spent any money on opinion polling or focus groups since January 2019.

Department for Education

Technology: Coronavirus

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to introduce retraining programmes in (a) the renewable energy sector and (b) other clean technologies sectors for people that may be unemployed after the covid-19 outbreak.

Gillian Keegan: Apprenticeships will have an important role to play in creating employment opportunities, particularly for young people, and supporting employers in all sectors to access the skilled workforce they need to recover and grow post-Covid-19. They can also help people re-train and re-enter the workforce.Employers are at the heart of our reforms to apprenticeships, designing high-quality standards that deliver the skills that they need. Standards developed by the renewable and clean energy sectors include: dual fuel smart meter installer, commercial energy specialist and power engineer.Additionally, the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) is undertaking work on a number of initiatives to support the energy, and wider engineering sector. This includes: scholarships that are focused on helping young people into areas of growth in the industry during the economic recovery period; connected competence to identify and facilitate transferrable skills, so that training doesn’t need to be replicated within the industry; and ‘Train to retain’ allowing existing graduates to be retained and ultimately reskill them according to emerging industry requirements.The ECITB is also developing a programme for those at economic risk due to COVID-19 impacts on their part of the industry. This will be similar to the work ECITB and EDF collaborated on for workers at Cottam coal-fired power station, helping them transition from established parts of the energy sector into growth areas.We continue to work with further education providers and employers to ensure they deliver the skills our workers and economy need. We are looking to support employers of all sizes, and particularly smaller businesses to take on new apprentices this year. We will set out further details in due course. We will also ensure that there is sufficient funding to support small businesses wanting to take on an apprentice this year. In addition, we have launched a new online Skills Toolkit to provide free high quality digital and numeracy courses, the skills most sought after by employers.Alongside wider adult skills reforms, the government is providing £2.5 billion (£3 billion when including Barnett funding for devolved administrations) over the course of the Parliament, for a new National Skills Fund to help adults learn new skills and prepare for the economy of the future.

Students: Finance

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to provide fiscal support to students in financial difficulty as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Michelle Donelan: As my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, have both made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19. Higher Education (HE) providers take their responsibilities seriously and are best placed to identify the needs of their student body as well as how to develop the services needed to support it.Many providers will have hardship funds to support students in times of need, including emergencies. The expectation is that where any student requires additional support, providers will support them through their own hardship funds.We have worked closely with the Office for Students to help clarify that providers can draw upon existing funding to provide hardship funds and support disadvantaged students impacted by COVID-19. Providers are able to use the funding, worth around £23 million per month for April, May, June and July, towards student hardship funds.Students with a part-time employment contract should speak to their employer about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/financial-support-for-businesses-during-coronavirus-covid-19), which has been set up to help pay staff wages and keep people in employment. We have also asked that HE providers pay particular attention to the additional financial hardships that are being faced by student staff who have been reliant on income from campus-based jobs at this time.Departmental officials are working hard with the sector to continue to monitor the situation.

Further Education: Coronavirus

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the percentage of students further education establishments are allowed to readmit following the covid-19 outbreak.

Gillian Keegan: The guidance on how to phase the return of learners in further education is underpinned by our latest understanding of COVID-19. To limit the risk of increasing the rate of transmission, scientific advice indicates that we need to take a phased approach that limits both the number of young people in attendance and how much they mix with other learners and staff. We are reviewing options for the Autumn term; we would like all learners to return to on site delivery as soon as possible and we are working with the sector to support them to do that, as soon as the scientific advice allows it, and with appropriate measures in place to manage the transmission risk. Further education colleges have done fantastic work to deliver excellent online provision; many colleges had a significant online element to their offer prior to COVID-19, and we expect this to continue as there is a phased return to more on site delivery.

Schools: Inspections

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Ofsted are required to examine individual school policies and handling of racism in inspections.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Ofsted officers are BAME.

Nick Gibb: These are matters for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Schools: Police

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools-based police officers are assigned to (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) England, (ii) Greater Manchester, and (iii) Manchester, Gorton.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what powers of oversight and scrutiny senior school staff have with regard to assigned schools-based police officers.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has assessed the effect of schools-based police officers on the BAME educational attainment gap.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Safe Schools Partnerships are in operation in (a) England, (b) North West, (c) Greater Manchester, and (d) Manchester, Gorton.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what processes are in place in the event of a conflict between school staff and schools-based police officers.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the remit of schools-based police officers is with regard to discipline and pupil behaviour.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools-based police officers are involved in the teaching of personal social health and economic education or citizenship lessons in their assigned school.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many complaints have been made about the behaviour or conduct of schools-based police officers in each of the last 10 years.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary state-funded schools have an assigned schools-based police officer.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools-based police officers assigned to (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in England are (i) police constables and (ii) police community support officers.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State Education, whether his Department has assessed the effect of schools-based police officers on Black and minority ethnic pupils.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary state-funded schools have requested the presence of a schools-based police officer in each year since 2002.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what role senior school staff play in the line management of schools-based police officers.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupil referral units have an assigned schools-based police officer.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools-based police officers assigned to state-funded primary and secondary schools in England are (a) white, (b) Black or minority ethnic, (c) female and (d) male.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what processes are in place to investigate complaints against schools-based police officers.

Nick Gibb: There are good examples of joint working between police forces and schools. Many schools have links with their local police forces and police officers play an important role in schools, engaging with and mentoring pupils. However, the detail is held and decisions made about these relationships are rightly made at a local level between schools who know their pupils and police forces who know their local neighbourhoods. Matters of oversight, remit and any complaints will all be dealt with locally. Accordingly, the Department does not gather nor hold information on the number of partnerships, the number of officers based in any school or the number of officers supporting personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education. It is right for schools to have the flexibility to work with external organisations to support the delivery of their PSHE programme to enhance teaching. As with any visitor, where a school invites external agencies, including police forces, into school they are responsible for ensuring they check the visitor’s and organisation’s credentials as well as the details of their session to ensure it fits with their planned programme. Schools should also adhere to the Keeping Children Safe in Education Guidance and agree in advance of the session how safeguarding reports should be dealt with. The Department has not conducted an assessment on the effect of school-based police officers on Black, Asian and minority ethnic pupils or the educational attainment gap where such officers are deployed. We trust schools to do what is best for their pupils and believe they are best placed to decide how to utilise school-based police.

Primary Education: Sports

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to make additional funding available for the future of the Primary PE and Sport Premium scheme.

Nick Gibb: The Government will confirm arrangements for the PE and Sport Premium in the 2020-21 academic year as soon as possible. The position for the 2021-22 academic year and beyond will be considered at the forthcoming Spending Review.

National Tutoring Programme

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps with the Education Endowment Foundation to help ensure that none of the National Tutoring Programme volunteer tutors are unpaid interns.

Nick Gibb: The National Tutoring Programme, worth £350 million, was recently announced as part of a £1 billion COVID-19 “catch-up” package to directly tackle the impact of lost teaching time and will increase access to high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged young people.We will be working closely with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to identify high quality tutoring organisations and support them to ramp up their recruitment of tutors.The EEF will select high-quality tutoring organisations that meet agreed criteria. These organisations will have differing models - some may use volunteers to deliver tutoring sessions to pupils, while others will pay tutors. Dedicated coaches that are based in schools will all receive a salary.

Assessments

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department is providing to (a) students who are home schooled to access exam centres for exams taking place in summer 2020 and (b) teachers at those exam centres facilitating those exams.

Nick Gibb: Following the cancellation of this year’s exams, the exam boards will be providing students with calculated grades, wherever possible. No exams will take place in summer 2020.There will be an opportunity for students to sit exams in the autumn term, if they feel their calculated grade does not reflect their ability. There will also be a small group of students for whom there is not enough evidence for a calculated grade to be derived in the summer, including some home educated students. It is particularly important that these students are able to achieve grades through the additional exam series.We have published guidance that sets out our expectation that the exam centre that submitted entries for students for exams in summer 2020 should enter them in the autumn if they wish to take exams, or take responsibility for ensuring that they have somewhere appropriate to sit their exams in exceptional cases where attending the original centre is not the best option for the student. This arrangement extends to all students who wish to take exams in the additional autumn series, including those who are home educated.

Education: Coronavirus

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help ensure there is an agreement between (a) his Department, (b) schools and (c) parents on the (i) delivery of lessons in person or virtually, (ii) amount of teacher pupil contact and (iii) marking of and feedback on schoolwork.

Nick Gibb: The Department will do whatever it can to make sure no child – whatever their background or location – falls behind as a result of COVID-19. That is why we want to support schools and parents to ensure children and young people’s education can continue, though ultimately it is up to each school to determine how to deliver education to its pupils.The Department has worked with schools to produce case studies guidance on remote education practice: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-practice-for-schools-during-coronavirus-covid-19, which provides an opportunity for schools to learn from each other's practice. This guidance stresses the importance of ensuring regular teacher contact with pupils, and contains examples of approaches to marking and feedback.Schools and colleges should use best endeavours to support pupils attending school as well as those remaining at home, making use of the available remote education support: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/education-and-childcare. We expect schools and teachers to use their professional judgement, and knowledge of their pupils’ educational needs and home circumstances, to plan appropriate content that enables education to continue. Schools should strive to set work that pupils and their parents will be able to access across as wide a range of subjects as possible.Expectations for next academic year will be published before the end of term.

Financial Services: Education

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the provision of financial education to children and young people in response to the impact of covid-19 outbreak.

Nick Gibb: Financial education is taught within the national curriculum in mathematics and citizenship. At present, due to the unprecedented challenges for schools caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the Government understands that schools will need flexibility around the education they are providing to their pupils. We expect schools and teachers to use their professional judgement, knowledge of their pupils’ educational needs and home circumstances, to plan appropriate content that enables education to continue.Our latest guidance on teaching to support children is set out here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.Longer term, the Department will continue to work closely with The Money and Pension Service and HM Treasury to consider how to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.

Children: Coronavirus

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free laptops have been made available in (a) Durham County Council and Darlington Borough council area and (b) each parliamentary constituency in the Durham County Council and Darlington Borough council area for school children since the closure of schools in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

Nick Gibb: The Government has committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education and social care services, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers.We are providing laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in Year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver. Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and children in Year 10 do not have internet connections, we are providing 4G wireless routers.The Department of Education has ordered over 200,000 laptops and tablets and allocated devices to local authorities and academy trusts based on its estimates of the number of eligible children that do not have access to a device. Local authorities and academy trusts are best place to identify and prioritise children and young people who need devices. The Department is working to provide these devices in the shortest possible timeframe; deliveries to local authorities began in May and has continued throughout June.The Department has published information about how many laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers we have delivered or dispatched to local authorities and academy trusts as of 14 June, which can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data. This includes 1,424 devices to Durham County Council and 410 devices to Darlington Borough Council for children with a social worker and care leavers.

Schools: Transport

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether free school transport arrangements will be maintained on the same terms for school children from families of low income who are required to travel by bus from one local education authority to another.

Nick Gibb: Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide free home to school transport for eligible children. A child is eligible if they are of compulsory school age, attend their nearest suitable school and it is more than the statutory walking distance from their home. The statutory walking distance is 2 miles for children under the age of 8 and 3 miles for children aged 8 and over. A child is also eligible if they live within the statutory walking distance but could not reasonably be expected to walk to school because of their special educational needs, disability or mobility problems, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so.There are additional entitlements to free home to school transport for those children who are eligible for free school meals, or if a parent they live with receives the maximum amount of Working Tax Credit. These are known as extended rights and are intended to support low income families in exercising school choice. Under the extended rights criteria, a child is eligible if they are aged 8 to 10 years, attend their nearest suitable school and it is more than 2 miles from their home, they are aged 11 to 16 years, and attend one of their three nearest suitable schools which is between 2 and 6 miles from their home; or they are aged 11 to 16 years, attend a school that is between 2 and 15 miles from their home that their parents have chosen on the grounds of their religion or belief and, having regard to that religion or belief, there is no suitable school nearer to their home.The duty applies even if the school an eligible child attends is in the area of another local authority.There is no intention to change these requirements.

Further Education and Sixth Form Education: Coronavirus

Darren Henry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) further education colleges and (b) sixth forms are supported during the covid-19 outbreak.

Gillian Keegan: I am very grateful for how sixth forms and FE colleges have responded to the unique challenge of COVID-19.We have confirmed that the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will continue to pay grant funded providers their scheduled monthly profiled payments for the remainder of the 2019/20 funding year. Allocations for 2020/21 have also now been confirmed and payments will be made as scheduled. Up to date details are contained in operational guidance available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision. For colleges in significant financial difficulties, the existing support arrangements remain in place, including short-term emergency funding.My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has also announced a series of wider measures to support employers and employees, recognising the significant impacts caused by COVID-19. We have confirmed that FE providers can apply to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for non grant-funded employees. The CJRS has been extended until August 2020. Up to date details of this support are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses.As announced last summer, we will next year be increasing investment in education and training of 16-19 year olds by £400 million, including an increased base rate, and more funding for high cost and high value subjects, which will help the sector to deliver in the difficult circumstances we are facing during the pandemic. In March, we also announced an investment of £1.5 billion over five years in capital spending for further education colleges.For sixth forms, our priority is to ensure that Year 13 students can progress as planned, including starting university, moving into apprenticeships or securing a job, and to support Year 12 students to prepare for examinations next year.We have published a planning guide for secondary schools (including those with sixth forms) to help school leaders to prepare and decide arrangements:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-schools-from-1-june/planning-guide-for-secondary-schoolsThese are rapidly developing circumstances and we will continue to keep the situation under review and to keep Parliament updated accordingly.

Children: Mental Health

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support the mental health needs of BAME children; and if he will make a statement.

Vicky Ford: Ministers and officials in the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care are meeting regularly to discuss the effect of the changes to education and how to provide support for mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.We are aware that there is emerging evidence that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals can be more severely affected than the general population by COVID-19. We also know that people from BAME backgrounds are more at risk of experiencing mental health and wellbeing issues and that they access mental health care less than people from white backgrounds.NHS England and Improvement is working closely with BAME experts, health professionals, Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) partners and others to support rapid knowledge and information sharing to encourage timely access to NHS mental health services, and just as importantly, good BAME experiences within those services.In May, the Department of Health and Social Care announced £4.2 million for mental health charities, including Young Minds to enable them to continue to support people experiencing mental health challenges at this time. The department then provided a further £5 million of additional funding for mental health charities to support adults and children, including charities that offer some support to children and young people from BAME communities, such as the What? Centre, which supports young people with furthering their understanding of race, culture and identity in relation to mental health.The Department for Education has been working closely with health partners to provide resources and update guidance to support and promote all children and young people’s mental health during the outbreak and to prepare for the return of pupils and students. We have encouraged schools to focus on mental wellbeing as pupils return and published a list of resources to help those supporting children at home, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-online-education-resources/online-science-pe-wellbeing-and-send-resources-for-home-education#mental-wellbeing.All NHS mental health trusts have been asked to ensure that there are 24/7 open access telephone lines to support people of all ages. Public Health England and Health Education England have also developed advice and guidance for parents and professionals on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing.Guidance on safeguarding in education settings includes specific information on mental health and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-safeguarding-in-schools-colleges-and-other-providers.Guidance and for parents and carers to support their children’s education during the COVID-19 outbreak is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/supporting-your-childrens-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.As pupils return, schools will need to be especially sensitive to the needs and wellbeing of BAME members of staff, BAME parents and BAME pupils. The department’s guidance to schools sets out that they should ensure they have considered the impact on staff and pupils with protected characteristics, including race and disability, in developing their approach.

Schools: Coronavirus

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to allocate additional funding to schools for the provision of additional teaching space from September 2020 in the event that those schools do not have adequate teaching space to return to full-schooling under the covid-19 restrictions.

Nick Gibb: As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, made clear when he spoke at the daily press briefing on 19 June, the Department is working towards bringing all children and young people back to school in September. We intend to announce further plans over the coming weeks, including guidance to school leaders on the protective measures necessary to support this.

Education: Coronavirus

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional support his Department plans to provide to parents to ensure effective children's learning during the covid-19 outbreak.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department is providing to home-schooled children during the covid-19 outbreak.

Nick Gibb: The Department will do whatever it can to make sure no child – whatever their background or location – falls behind as a result of COVID-19.That is why we have provided a comprehensive package of support for remote education, including guidance for parents and carers: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/supporting-your-childrens-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19, which covers how they can help their children to learn at home. This support, and the resources set out below, will also be useful to parents and carers of home-schooled children.We have published an updated list of high quality online educational resources: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-online-education-resources which have been assessed with the support of some of the country’s leading educational subject experts to help pupils to learn at home. The list includes resources in six priority areas including maths, English, science, PE, mental wellbeing and SEND, from Early Years to Key Stage 5, and which are currently available for free.The Department has also worked with the BBC on its comprehensive new education package, available on TV, via the red button and iPlayer, and online at BBC Bitesize. Bitesize Daily TV shows were watched by over 2 million households on iPlayer in the first two weeks of transmission.Our latest guidance on education and childcare during coronavirus is available here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/education-and-childcareThese are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the support we provide under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

Covid-19 Education Catch-up Fund

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to extend the covid-19 catch-up funding to students studying in (a) sixth form colleges, (b) 16 to 19 academies and (c) 16 to 19 free schools.

Nick Gibb: We are currently looking at how best to support young people in these institutions given the disruption to education caused by COVID-19.

Teachers: Equality

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that teaching staff with protected characteristics are supported to progress in their careers.

Nick Gibb: In October 2018, the Department set out its commitment to increasing the diversity of the teaching workforce across all protected characteristics when it launched the Statement of Intent. This commitment to increasing teacher diversity was made alongside 10 co-signatories from the sector (including unions and grassroots organisations) who set out their own individual activities. The Department has been making progress against its commitments, including: Providing £2 million of funding in nationwide Equality and Diversity regional ‘hubs’ to support aspiring leaders into headship. The hubs focus on providing coaching and mentoring to increase representation across all protected characteristics in senior leadership roles. Between 2014 and 2018 over 2,900 teachers have been helped to take the next steps on their leadership journey through school led diversity leadership training through the Equality and Diversity Fund.Reflecting the importance of diversity in the Department’s Recruitment and Retention Strategy published in January 2019 to ensure people from all backgrounds are supported and that barriers to their progression are removed. Encouraging representative recruitment for National Professional Qualifications for school leadership through key performance indicators. Continuing to engage with signatories of the statement. In July 2019, we held a roundtable to gather progress updates and showcase best practice.

Education: Coronavirus

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to mitigate the effects of the covid-19 outbreak on learners who have not been able to gain training placement experiences and as a result may struggle to achieve the necessary competency for their programme.

Gillian Keegan: The current situation means that many learners are not able to carry out any placement element of their programme due to social distancing measures and employers being closed or having ‘work at home’ arrangements that are not suitable. This is particularly the case for traineeships where the work experience is an integral part of the programme. In such cases, temporary flexibilities that apply from 23 March 2020 allow reduced duration of work experience to complete learning aims where appropriate. This also includes potential extension of traineeships by up to 12 months where required and confirmation of attainment of qualification by email until hard copy certificates can be issued. More widely on other vocational and technical qualifications (VTQs), Ofqual has set out in guidance how results should be issued this summer to enable as many learners as possible to progress as they have planned. For many VTQs, a calculated grade will be awarded – in a similar way to GCSEs and AS/A levels. For other VTQs where a calculated grade is not possible, assessments will be delivered in an adapted way this summer. We know for some VTQs that neither of these approaches will be possible and that the only option will be to delay assessments into the next academic year - this should be a last resort. Awarding organisations are working with Ofqual and centres to deliver results and assessments wherever possible this summer.

Apprentices: Coronavirus

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support he is providing to NHS trusts to mitigate the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on their ability to use mapped career pathways of apprenticeships to improve social mobility.

Gillian Keegan: Apprenticeships offer a complete pathway from entry-level through to postgraduate level, giving people of all backgrounds the opportunity to pursue a career in the health and social care sector. We are committed to minimising disruption to nurses’ training and career progression, while supporting the NHS to deal with the challenges of COVID-19, and we have introduced a broad range of flexibilities to help support this.Nursing apprentices who have completed their programme and passed through the apprenticeship gateway will be regarded to have met the end-point assessment requirements and achieved their apprenticeship. The apprentice will then have the opportunity to continue along the nursing apprenticeship pathway. We have also issued guidance on how critical workers such as nurses may be able to continue off-the-job training when redeployed to a new role.We continue to engage regularly with NHS stakeholders, including Health Education England and NHS Employers, to make sure the NHS is fully supported to recruit the apprentices it needs to deliver high-quality care.

Apprentices: Coronavirus

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on providing additional (a) support and (b) incentives to SMEs to (i) retain and (ii) take on apprentices while dealing with the economic challenges resulting from the covid-19 outbreak.

Gillian Keegan: Apprenticeships will have an important role to play in creating employment opportunities, particularly for young people, and supporting employers in all sectors to access the skilled workforce they need to recover and grow post COVID-19.The flexibilities we have introduced, including remote learning, are enabling apprenticeships to continue. We are looking to support employers of all sizes, and particularly smaller businesses, to take on new apprentices this year. We will set out further details in due course.We will ensure that there is sufficient funding to support small businesses wanting to take on an apprentice this year and have extended the transition period of transferring onto the apprenticeship service from 1 November 2020 to 1 April 2021. This will enable smaller employers to have more control over the funding they use to create new apprenticeship opportunities and allow them to reserve funds before choosing the provider that best meets their needs.As the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills, I hosted a series of round tables in June 2020 with employers, business representative groups and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to discuss what further support employers may need in continuing to access apprenticeships.

Children: Exercise

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure children with disabilities are able to participate in appropriate physical activity whilst they are not at school during the covid-19 lockdown.

Vicky Ford: The department has worked closely with early years settings, schools and physical activity experts to ensure that there is advice and resources to support everyone to participate in regular exercise. The department has published online educational resources approved by subject experts for schools and parents to help children to learn at home. These resources include those for PE, which are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-online-education-resources/online-science-pe-wellbeing-and-send-resources-for-home-education.On 19 May 2020, we announced £37 million for the Family Fund, which will provide grants to families on low incomes with disabled and critically ill children. £10 million of that funding has been committed specifically in response to the unique difficulties presented by the COVID-19 outbreak for over 75,000 families, helping parents educate and look after children who are staying at home more than usual. Details of the announcement have been published here:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/37-million-to-support-children-with-complex-needs.The government has provided £3.2 billion of additional to support local authorities to address any pressures they are facing in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including in children’s social care and for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services. We have also announced £750 million funding to support front line charities during the outbreak, including those supporting vulnerable children.

Free School Meals: Costs

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the annual cost to the public purse is of free school meals.

Vicky Ford: Schools pay for benefits-related free school meals from their core funding. The department includes a factor value in the national funding formula (£450 per pupil), but both local authorities and schools have the freedom and flexibility to apply their own local formulae. Last year, around 1.4 million children benefitted from this important provision.For universal infant free school meals, schools receive funding through a separate grant. We spend around £600 million each year ensuring 1.4 million infants receive a free meal through this programme. Universal infant free school meals allocations can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-infant-free-school-meals-uifsm-2019-to-2020.

Pupil Premium: Coronavirus

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupil premium applications have been received since the closure of schools in England as a result of the covid-19 outbreak; and what effect those applications have had on the number of children eligible for free school meals.

Vicky Ford: The allocation of pupil premium funding to schools does not involve an application process. It is based on the number of pupils on roll at the time of the January school census who have been registered for benefits-based free school meals at any point in the last six years; or are currently looked after; or have left care through adoption, a special guardianship order or child arrangements order.Details of pupil premium allocations to schools in the financial year 2020-21 are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2020-to-2021.

Primary Education: Free School Meals

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to fund universal infant free school meals from September 2020.

Vicky Ford: Universal infant free school meals will continue in the 2020-21 academic year, providing a free nutritious lunch to pupils in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2. Details of school allocations will be published shortly.

Children: Coronavirus

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the ability of (a) refugee and (b) asylum seeker children to access (i) laptops and (ii) the internet during partial school closures during the covid-19 outbreak; and what steps his Department is taking to tackle the disadvantage gap in relation to those children.

Nick Gibb: The Government has committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education and social care services, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers.We are providing laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in year 10, those receiving support from a social worker and care leavers. This includes looked after children, including unaccompanied asylum seeking children. It also includes former unaccompanied asylum seeking children who are now care leavers. Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and children in year 10 do not have internet connections, we are providing 4G wireless routers.The Department has ordered over 200,000 laptops and tablets and allocated devices to local authorities and academy trusts based on its estimates of the number of eligible children that do not have access to a device. Local authorities and academy trusts are best placed to identify and prioritise children and young people who need devices. This may include children in families who are refugees or who are seeking asylum. The Department is working to provide these devices in the shortest possible timeframe; deliveries to schools and local authorities began in May and have continued throughout June.

Children: Asylum

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2020 to Question 59568 on Department for Education: Overseas Aid, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the reduction in Official Development Assistance in cash terms on the provision of support to child and unaccompanied child asylum seekers.

Vicky Ford: It is the department’s policy that asylum seeker children who attend a school or early years setting attract funding in the same way as all other children. This is allocated through the schools national funding formula and other grants like the pupil premium and teachers’ pay grant. The department’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) contribution is an estimate of how much of the wider core schools funding for England is allocated due to having these children on schools’ rolls. Our ODA spending in future years will be primarily dependent on the number of asylum seeker children arriving in the country.

Schools: Coronavirus

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has provided to schools on the provision of additional pastoral support for pupils when they return to school during the covid-19 outbreak.

Vicky Ford: The government remains committed to promoting and supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.The return to school is a key part of supporting the mental health and wellbeing of pupils, as attendance at school allows social interaction with peers, carers and teachers, which benefits wellbeing, and enables staff to directly provide pastoral support.Throughout the government’s guidance on the wider opening of schools, we have encouraged schools to focus on pastoral support as pupils return. Children in Reception, year 1 and year 6 are now able to return to primary, and year 10 and year 12 pupils are able to receive face-to-face support at secondary. Primary schools with capacity can bring back additional groups, in line with existing protective measures, and we have given schools the flexibility to have face-to-face ‘check-ups’ with all pupils during the summer term to provide pastoral support. Our intention is for all children to return to school from September and guidance will be published soon.

Students: Coronavirus

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that  school behaviour policies do not adversely affect students who have experienced trauma as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

Nick Gibb: It is important for schools to be calm and disciplined environments, where everyone follows the rules. The Department has published advice that sets out how, as schools start to welcome pupils back, schools should update their behaviour policy to reflect the new protective measures and new rules and routines:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings.Schools will be aware that the current circumstances can affect the mental health of pupils in a way that affects behaviour. Our guidance on mental health and behaviour in schools can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2.It sets out how mental health issues can bring about changes in a young person’s behaviour or emotional state and how this can be reflected within the approach to behaviour set out in Creating a Culture:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-in-schools.Additionally, some children will return to school having been exposed to a range of adversity including bereavement and anxiety. This may lead to an increase in social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) concerns. We are aware that some children will need additional support and access to services such as Educational Psychologists, social workers, and counsellors, and the guidance below on supporting vulnerable children during the COVID-19 outbreak acknowledges that staff may need to be redeployed:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people.

Children and Young People: Broadband and ICT

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children and young people eligible for technology support will have access to devices and broadband over the 2020 summer holidays to catch-up on learning programmes.

Nick Gibb: The Government has committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education and social care services, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers. We are providing over 200,000 laptops and tablets to local authorities and academy trusts for disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver. Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and children in year 10 do not have internet connections, we are providing 50,000 4G wireless routers. These laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers are the property of the local authority, trust or school, and so will benefit children’s education long after we come out of the measures required to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes supporting children and young people to catch up on learning over the summer holidays.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Visits

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons in England and Wales were providing virtual visits to prisoners on the 18 June 2020.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timeframe is for each prison in England and Wales to provide virtual visits.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on prisons in England and Wales that have experienced problems with the virtual visits system that resulted in (a) delayed visits and (b) the prevention of the provision of those visits.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department holds a list of the names of prisoners that are prohibited from accessing virtual visits.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria his Department uses to determine whether a prisoner is eligible to access virtual visits.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse is of the (a) installation and (b) operation of virtual visits in each prison in England and Wales.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the contract to provide virtual visit technology to prisons in England and Wales was put out to tender.

Lucy Frazer: We have introduced a temporary emergency video calling service in recognition of the importance of maintaining family contact while social visits have been temporarily suspended in prisons in England and Wales. Due to the urgency of the situation and the complexity required in assessing and approving a solution to provide these services, a direct award under Regulation 32 (2) (c) was made. We have published information regarding the provision of video calls on GOV.UK and made clear we will continue to expand secure video calling to more establishments during this time.The list of prisons providing video calling visits to prisoners on the 18 June 2020 was as follows; Berwyn, Bronzefiled, Buckley Hall, Chelmsford, Cookham Wood, Deerbolt, Downview, Durham, Eastwood Park, Feltham, Full Sutton, Gartree, Guys Marsh, High Down, Hull, Send, Stocken, Swinfen Hall, Wayland, Werrington, and Wetherby. We are currently engaged with further establishments to train and help prepare them to introduce this service, which means further establishments will go live at different times based on local preparedness. Some establishments have encountered local network and connectivity issues which have required bespoke technical solutions to be developed to allow them to commence live calls.The Ministry of Justice does not hold a central list of offenders who are denied access, specific incidents that have led to issues, and the costs involved with the system broken down by prison. In principle, all prisoners will have access to video calls, however, Governors and Directors may withhold access from prisoners where, based on an assessment of risk, to do so is necessary, non-discriminatory and proportionate under Prison Rule 34 or YOI Rule 9. In these instances the reasons for withholding access must be recorded. As we are in the process of implementing provision more widely throughout the estate it is too early to make operational assessments, however, this will be conducted at a suitable time.At the appropriate time, we will consider future options for video calling across the estate beyond Covid-19 restrictions, which may include a competition for such services.

Ministry of Justice: Public Inquiries

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by his Department.

Alex Chalk: The Ministry of Justice is not conducting any inquires at this time. All previous public inquiries carried out by the Ministry of Justice, whether statutory or non-statutory, have concluded and the reports have been published.

Courts: Coronavirus

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to tackle the backlog of cases in Magistrates’ Courts and Crown Courts as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

Chris Philp: COVID-19 has been an unprecedented challenge for the criminal justice system, but we have kept courts open and cases flowing through the system throughout. The UK has been a global leader and we are ahead of comparable systems, keeping our system open and functioning throughout COVID-19. The most time-critical hearings have continued to take place in the Magistrates’ Courts, including hearings where the defendant is in custody or there is a risk to the public, as well as dealing with applications to extend custody time limits.In the Crown Court, whilst jury trials were paused we kept the system moving, disposing of over 5,000 cases. Jury trials were restarted on 18 May, and by mid-July all courts will have reopened. This has all been enabled through significantly increased use of technology, with over 6,500 cases heard remotely, and with close collaboration and joint working with partners and stakeholders across the criminal justice system.There is more we need to do and HMCTS are pursuing an ambitious plan to continue to increase capacity, including increasing the use of video and audio enabled justice via a national rollout of Cloud Video Platform (CVP), expanded opening hours, and exploring ways to gain additional court capacity. This will all be set out in more detail in a Courts Recovery Plan which will be published soon.

Prisoners: Coronavirus

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to ensure effective communication between prisoners and their lawyers during the covid-19 outbreak.

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on what date he plans to enable legal practitioners to (a) attend Her Majesty’s Prisons and (b) take effective instructions from their clients.

Lucy Frazer: Alongside the closure of courts, the Government suspended all but exceptional visits to prisons in March. This was to ensure the safety of both prisoners and our staff through the pandemic.Despite the absence of physical visits, prisoners do maintain the right to access legal advice, and we have looked to ensure that prisoners have continued to have the tools to make contact with their legal representatives via telephone, video link or written correspondence.Since the outbreak of the pandemic we have enhanced the capability of prison videoconferencing facilities, particularly to support priority court work such as sentencing hearings and prisoners approaching their parole hearing dates. We have made use of the additional 1,250 mobile phones issued to prisons without in-cell telephony in order to facilitate private conversations with legal advisors, alongside encouraging Governors to ensure prisoners can have conversations with their representatives in confidence.We are also taking steps to increase the available capacity of video conferencing across the estate through increased operating hours to include longer hours during the weekdays, and at some locations on Saturdays. This will sit alongside renewed guidance to all governors on the importance of making sure that adequate time for legal advice is made available to prisoners where possible.Alongside this work, we are increasing the physical number of video link outlets at some critical sites where capacity is limited, as well as to support specialist courts including Youth and women’s prisons, together with the re-purposing of some unused spaces within prisons for more video link capacity.Over the coming weeks, we are also looking to resume face-to-face access, where possible, in line with the easing of Government restrictions and advice from Public Health England. Advice to governors will be published as part of the National Framework.

Legal Aid Scheme

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much the Legal Aid Agency has paid out (a) since 31 March 2020 and (b) for a comparable period of time in the last three years with regard to (i) closed cases and (ii) payments on account.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral evidence of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State's evidence to the Justice Select Committee on 4 May 2020, Q131 HC299, what the unbilled amount of legal aid of over £100m is by legal area.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the funds available to legal aid practitioners with regard to (a) unclaimed costs for completed matters and (b) payments on account.

Alex Chalk: The most recent statistics published for the Legal Aid Agency cover up to and including March 2020. Figures for quarters of the 2020/21 financial year are scheduled for future release, and as such payment data for part (a) of question 62405 cannot yet be provided. The figures for part (b) of the question are displayed below, matching the equivalent period of April, May and June inclusive for each financial year:Claims for Civil Representation – First Quarter Only Completed case expenditure (where costs met by LAA)Payments on account (live cases)Q1 2017/18£153,943,450.58£53,508,814.89Q1 2018/19£149,331,830.09£61,087,711.51Q1 2019/20£168,696,887.77£68,007,236.47 The figure of £100m referred to by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State was based upon estimates produced by the Ministry of Justice relating to unbilled work for completed cases. The breakdown of the estimates is as follows:Criminal Legal Aid in relation to representation in the Crown Court and Higher Courts- £130mCivil Legal Aid in relation to representation in the civil and family courts- £80m All of the above estimates of unbilled work pertain to the position as at 31st March 2020.As at 31st March 2020, the estimate produced by the Ministry of Justice of the amounts available for legal aid providers to claim in relation to unbilled work on completed matters were –Criminal Legal Aid in relation to representation in the Crown Court and Higher Courts- £130mCivil Legal Aid in relation to representation in the civil and family courts- £80m As at 31st March 2020, the estimate produced by the Ministry of Justice of the amount available for legal aid providers to claim in relation to payment on account for civil matters pertaining to representation in the civil and family courts was £165m.

Prisoners' Release: Females

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2020 to Question 58089, of the 230 women who were not deemed suitable for the End of Custody Temporary Release scheme how many (a) lacked suitable accommodation in the community, (b) no longer wished to proceed with their application and (c) were deemed to present an unacceptable level of risk if released.

Lucy Frazer: 236 women in custody asked to be considered for the End of Custody Temporary Release scheme (ECTR).As of Friday 12 June, 6 women were released under ECTR and 22 were still in the process (undergoing police and probation checks).49 women did not consent to ECTR.128 women did not pass the initial risk screening at establishment level, and 31 were screened out later in the process following checks by police and probation.No women were deemed unsuitable due to a lack of accommodation. The National Probation Service (NPS) established 7 joint NPS/CRC Homelessness Prevention Taskforces (HPT) in England and Wales in March 2020. All homeless prisoners who are otherwise eligible for ECTR, are referred to the HPTs who will work with local housing providers to source appropriate accommodation. During the Covid -19 pandemic, Ministry of Justice funding has also been made available to house ECTR released prisoners in short term accommodation for up to 56 nights. This can include hotel and B&B accommodation. Those who are at risk of homelessness, will be referred to Local Authorities for assistance. Through The Gate case workers will be assigned to each person released on ECTR to support their move into longer term housing as well as other resettlement pathways.

Ministry of Justice: Public Opinion

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) focus groups in each month since January 2019.

Chris Philp: The information requested is not held centrally and therefore can only be provided at disproportionate costs.

Domestic Abuse

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is conducting an internal review of domestic abuse policy.

Alex Chalk: We are determined to drive the fundamental change necessary to keep victims of domestic abuse and their children safe. The Domestic Abuse Bill is the culmination of significant policy work and consultation on how we improve our response to this crime, which we are committed to keeping under review. Most recently, on 25 June 2020, we published our comprehensive report into the family courts system: ‘Assessing risk of harm to children and parents in private law children cases’.We are taking immediate action to implement the panel’s recommendations, and will be undertaking further work to address the long-standing, systemic issues identified in the report particularly where there are allegations of domestic abuse. This work will include a review into the presumption of ‘parental involvement’ and whether the right balance is being struck between the risk of harm to children and victims, and the right of the child to have a relationship with both parents.

Employment Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to reintroduce Employment Tribunal fees.

Chris Philp: There have been no decisions regarding the re-introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunal. The Government is committed to the effective enforcement of employment rights. Should we bring forward any formal proposals relating to the re-introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunal, they would be subject to a full public consultation.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Public Inquiries

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by her Department.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade came into existence in 2016 and since this time there have been no statutory and non-statutory public inquiries.

Riot Control Weapons: USA

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he plans to suspend the sale and export to the US of UK manufactured (a) public order equipment and (b) equipment used for law enforcement.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade and I have been sorry to see the violence that has taken place in the United States of America.All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria (‘Consolidated Criteria’). In reaching a decision, the Department for International Trade (DIT) receives advice from a number of Departments including the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Together, we draw on all available information, including reports from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and our diplomatic missions. The Consolidated Criteria provides a thorough risk assessment framework and requires us to think hard about the impact of exporting any equipment. These are not decisions my Department takes lightly, and we will not license the export of items where to do so would be inconsistent with the Consolidated Criteria.Any licence granted by my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade may be subject to conditions. In addition, in line with the Consolidated Criteria, my Department is able to review licences – and suspend or revoke as necessary – when circumstances require. There are currently eight extant licences that may be linked to law enforcement agencies. Six are Open Individual Export Licences (‘OIELs’), which have potential end users that include law enforcement agencies. Two are Standard Individual Export Licences (‘SIELs’), which have numerous potential end users that include law enforcement agencies. There are also 15 Open General Licences (‘OGLs’) for which businesses can register that cover the export of anti-riot gear.Much information is in the public domain already. We publish information on all export licences issued, refused and revoked on a quarterly and annual basis as official statistics on GOV.UK – at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data – and whilst data on actual exports is not required to be centrally held, the licences issued until the end of December 2019 are available.

Department for International Trade: Public Opinion

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much her Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) focus groups in each month since January 2019.

Greg Hands: The information requested is not held centrally by the Department for International Trade and therefore can only be provided at disproportionate costs.All the Department’s contracts of over £10,000 can be found on the Government Contracts Finder web-site at https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.

Riot Control Weapons: Export Controls

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many licences have been issued under Annex 3 of the EC regulation on torture and death penalty goods relating to PAVA and OC sprays; and which end users were specified for those licences.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: Our records show the following licences were granted between 2006 and 2019:49 Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) for end users that include one for commercial use (for use as a flavouring in the Food Manufacturing industry); one for forensic analysis; one for government; two stockists; two for demonstration purposes (not for resale) and 41 for law enforcement agencies; and one SIEL (Transhipment) licence for naval use;Three Standard Individual Trade Control Licences (SITCLs), where two were for law enforcement agencies and one was for testing and evaluation purposes;One Open Individual Export Licence (OIEL) has been granted with the conditions that (a) the exporter may only export to a government directly or companies using the listed goods in fulfilment of a government contract, and (b) export under this licence is restricted to armed forces, the police, the Home Department (or equivalent), other security forces, and law enforcement.

Riot Control Weapons: USA

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what measures firms are required to comply with to export tear gas to law enforcement agencies or military forces in the United States.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: Such firms need to hold a Section 5 firearms certificate; apply for, and be granted, an export licence; and submit any necessary export declaration to HM Revenue & Customs, in accordance with the conditions of the licence and customs legislation.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Rough Sleeping: Coronavirus

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the letter sent from the Minister for Homelessness to local authorities on 28 May 2020 on the moving on phase of accommodating rough sleepers who have been offered emergency accommodation as part of the covid-19 response; and if he will publish the Government’s advice to councils on their duties to provide emergency accommodation to rough sleepers and those becoming homeless during that outbreak.

Luke Hall: The letter sent from the Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing to local authorities on 28 May 2020 can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-letter-sent-on-28-may-2020-to-councils-about-accommodating-rough-sleepersThe Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government will continue to work collaboratively across government, and with councils, health providers and charities, to ensure rough sleepers can move into safe accommodation once the immediate crisis is over.

Homelessness: Coronavirus

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to publish further guidance to local authorities on how they should be accommodating (a) rough sleepers and (b) homeless people and families as part of the Government's response to the covid-19 outbreak.

Luke Hall: MHCLG and our team of Expert Advisers are working closely with local authorities to inform and co-produce their ‘next steps’ plans, identifying local solutions for those individuals currently in hotels and other emergency accommodation. We have recently announced new funding, set out below, to help to resource these ‘next steps’ efforts and we will shortly be publishing detailed guidance to support local authorities to develop and bring forward proposals to the fund.On 24 June, we announced that we are providing local authorities with a further £105 million to enable them to best support the c15,000 people placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This commitment will help to ensure that as few of these people as possible return to the streets, by helping to secure tenancies, as well as provide short-term housing while plans for long-term homes continue at pace for those accommodated throughout the pandemic. The funding will cover a range of interventions, from moves into the private rented sector, to extending or procuring interim accommodation, such as hotels or student accommodation, and supporting individuals to reconnect with friends or family.This funding is on top of the £433m that we announced on 24 May to provide thousands of additional long-term homes for vulnerable rough sleepers. Homes England, in partnership with MHCLG, have pledged to work hand in hand with leading Housing Associations and local authorities to deliver this. Further detailed information on the process to allocate this funding is being co-produced with partners and will be published in due course.There are no current plans to change the statutory homelessness duties, beyond the extension of automatic priority need to domestic abuse victims, which the Secretary of State announced on 2 May. Local authorities’ duties include those under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 to seek to prevent and relieve homelessness for all eligible households, as well as responsibilities under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 to provide suitable accommodation for homeless households that are eligible, have a priority need for accommodation and are not homeless intentionally.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Inquiries

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by his Department.

Luke Hall: MHCLG is not sponsoring any statutory or non-statutory public inquiries.

Local Government Finance: Coronavirus

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether local authorities will receive grant funding for additional covid-19 related spending required by central Government; and if he will issue guidance to local authorities that normal democratic scrutiny including full council meetings must resume before (a) consideration of emergency budgets and (b) the issue of statutory notices.

Mr Simon Clarke: We have made £3.2 billion available to local authorities through an un-ringfenced grant so they can address pressures they are facing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, the Government has committed over £27 billion to local areas to support councils and their communities. I am working closely with colleagues across government on a comprehensive plan to ensure councils’ financial sustainability over the financial year ahead and will continue to keep the House informed as these plans develop.The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 enable all local authority meetings to be held remotely and do not preclude physical meetings or a hybrid form of meeting where these can be held in accordance with public health regulations and guidance. It is for each local authority to determine what is appropriate in their specific circumstances. In giving councils this flexibility, they are expected to hold these meetings in a manner that ensures the decision-making process remains accessible to their residents.

Housing: Management

Tom Tugendhat: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to cap Management Companies raising fees on new developments without the explicit consent of residents on the development.

Luke Hall: The Government believes very strongly that fees, such as service charges, should be transparent and communicated effectively, and that there should be a clear route to challenge or redress if things go wrong.The law is clear that service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to work or services, these must be of a reasonable standard. Leaseholders may make an application to the First-tier Tribunal to make a determination on the reasonableness of their service charges.The Government believes Permission fees and administration charges should only be used where necessary and should only cover any reasonable costs incurred.The Government established an independent working group chaired by Lord Best to raise standards across the property sector, which also considered how fees such as service charges should be presented to consumers and the circumstances under which permission fees and administration charges could be justified, and whether they should be capped or banned. The working group has published its final report to Government and suggested that Government should consider introducing a prescribed list of acceptable fees. We are considering the report’s recommendations carefully and will announce next steps in due course.

Supermarkets: Coronavirus

Tom Tugendhat: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to end the relaxation of restrictions on night-time deliveries to supermarkets; and what plans he has to introduce tighter conditions on the time of deliveries where they cause a disturbance to neighbouring residents.

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to reinstate the conditions on food supply deliveries which were relaxed on 13 March 2020 due to the covid-19 outbreak.

Christopher Pincher: The Government made a Written Ministerial Statement on 13 March, setting out the need for flexibility around deliveries to supermarkets and other retailers of food, sanitary and other essential items given the disruption to supply chains due to the impact of the Coronavirus. This statement is being kept under review. Conditions are a matter for local authorities, and should be kept to a minimum, and must meet the tests set out in National Planning Policy Framework of being necessary, relevant to planning and the development, enforceable, precise, and reasonable in all other respects. We are also continuing to engage with supermarkets on the extent to which the relaxation is being used.

Coronavirus: Staffordshire

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what fiscal steps he is taking to support (a) Stoke-on-Trent, (b) Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and (c) Staffordshire County Council during the covid-19 outbreak.

Mr Simon Clarke: We have now made £3.2 billion available to local authorities through an un-ringfenced grant so they can address pressures they are facing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Of this Stoke-on-Trent has received £16.06 million, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has received £1.36 million and Staffordshire County Council has received £37.76 million in additional funding across the two tranches.In total, the Government has committed over £27 billion to local areas to support councils and their communities. This also includes: £300 million to support the new test and trace service, £600 million to support providers through a new Infection Control Fund and £12.3 billion of support through the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Grants.Alongside this funding, the Government has provided over £5 billion of cashflow support including the deferral of local authority payments of the Central Share of retained business rates, valued at £2.6 billion, as well as up-front payments of £1.8 billion of business rates reliefs and £850 million of social care grant.Furthermore, as I set out to the House on Monday 15 June, we are working closely with colleagues across government on a comprehensive plan to ensure councils’ financial sustainability over the financial year ahead. Ministers will continue to keep the House informed as these plans develop.

Building Regulations: Parking

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what provisions he plans to include in multi-storey car park building regulations to deter suicides.

Christopher Pincher: The Building Regulations 2010 apply to new-build structures rather than existing structures. Thus the impact on suicide prevention of changes to the Building Regulations requirements to guarding in car parks would be limited.   Following the publication of the government's 2012 suicide prevention strategy, local councils were given the responsibility of developing local suicide action plans through their work with health and wellbeing boards. A deadline of 2017 was set and by the end of 2016, 95 per cent of areas had plans in place or were in the process of drawing them up. Advice on suicide prevention in public spaces is given in Public Health England's 2015 publication Preventing suicides in public places - A practice resource. This guidance provides a targeted approach and proposes a range of measures, of which physical barriers are a part.   Requirement K2 of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010 provides requirements for guarding to be provided in new buildings, including car parking buildings. In relation to the design of guarding, statutory guidance in Approved Document K sets a minimum guarding height of 1100mm to changes of level other than at staircases (where the minimum height is 900mm). Changes in level of less than 380mm do not require guarding. These are minimum heights only.   The government is not planning to increase the statutory guidance on minimum heights of barriers in car parking buildings as a suicide prevention measure.

Rough Sleeping: Coronavirus

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that rough sleepers who have been granted accommodation for the duration of the covid-19 outbreak will be able to remain housed safely, in the long term.

Luke Hall: Almost 15,000 vulnerable people, including those who were street homeless, have been housed in emergency accommodation, including hotels, since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown period, according to returns from local authorities to MHCLG.Building on the considerable success so far, we announced that Dame Louise Casey is spearheading a Taskforce to lead the next phase of the Government’s support for rough sleepers during this pandemic.  The Taskforce has one overriding objective: to ensure that as many people as possible who have been brought in off the streets in this pandemic do not return to the streets.On 24 May the Government announced radical plans to provide thousands of long-term, safe homes for vulnerable rough sleepers taken off the streets during this pandemic. This ambitious commitment will be backed by £160 million this year through accelerating plans for the £381 million announced for rough sleeping services at Budget, bringing the total to £433 million over the lifetime of this parliament.This funding will support up to 6,000 rough sleepers into longer term accommodation, with 3,300 units of this accommodation becoming available in the next 12 months. Homes England, in partnership with MHCLG, have pledged to work hand-in-hand with leading housing associations and local authorities to deliver this.However, we are going even further. On 24 June we also announced that we are providing local authorities with a further £105 million to enable them to best support the nearly 15,000 people placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This commitment will help to ensure that as few of these people as possible return to the streets. The funding will cover a range of interventions, from moves into the Private Rented Sector to procuring interim accommodation such as hotels or student accommodation.

Evictions: Coronavirus

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues to prevent evictions in the long term for those who have lost income as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Christopher Pincher: The Government has introduced an unprecedented financial support package to help renters continue to pay their living costs, including rent, by supporting businesses to pay staff salaries, strengthening the welfare safety-net with a £7 billion boost to Universal Credit, and increasing the Local Housing Allowance rates so that they are set at the 30th percentile of market rents in each area.Emergency measures are also in place to ensure that tenants do not have to be concerned about being evicted at this time. All possession procedures in the courts are currently suspended until after 23rd August 2020 and the Coronavirus Act 2020 requires landlords to provide three months notice of their intention to seek possession.The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is working closely with the Ministry of Justice and the judiciary on arrangements, including new rules, to ensure that when the moratorium on evictions ends, the courts are better able to address the need for appropriate protection of all parties, including those shielding from coronavirus. This judicial-led work is to ensure that judges will have all the information necessary to make just decisions in the current framework and that the most vulnerable tenants will get the help they need.The Department regularly engages with other Government departments, including the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Work and Pensions, and HM Treasury, regarding private renters.

Private Rented Housing: Students

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance the Government has issued to students who are due to return to their university towns to commence tenancies in July 2020.

Christopher Pincher: On 13 May we announced that anyone in England could move home as long as they followed the advice at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.This includes students moving into university-run and privately rented accommodation. Everyone involved in the moving process must follow social distancing to minimise the spread of the virus.Letting agents and landlords should also consider how best to conduct tenancy check-ins for new tenancies agreed while broader measures remain in place, taking care to follow government advice on social distancing

Multiple Occupation: Students

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance the Government issues for landlords of houses of multiple occupation specifically let to students on cleaning properties before new tenants move in.

Christopher Pincher: On 13 May we announced that anyone in England could now move home as long as they followed the advice at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.This sets outs that letting agents and landlords should take steps to ensure any properties are prepared ready for new tenants. This may include cleaning to minimise any potential spread of the virus in line with government advice at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-decontamination-in-non-healthcare-settings.Letting agents and landlords should consider how best to conduct tenancy check-ins for new tenancies agreed while broader measures remain in place, taking care to follow government advice on social distancing to minimise possible spread of coronavirus.

Travellers: Coronavirus

Christian Wakeford: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that Traveller populations in the UK are relocated to (a) safe and (b) appropriate areas during the covid-19 outbreak.

Christopher Pincher: The Government is working hard to ensure all communities receive the support they need during this pandemic. It is for local authorities to determine how best to support vulnerable groups, in line with their public health responsibilities.   To enable compliance with COVID-19 public health guidance, access to basic amenities, including water, sanitation and waste disposal facilities is essential.   My Noble Friend, the Minister for Communities, wrote to local authorities to highlight the potential vulnerabilities of Gypsy & Traveller communities, noting that local authorities may conclude that some families may require alternative places to stop where access to essential facilities is provided or can be made temporarily available. A copy of the letter is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/882564/COVID-19_-_mitigating_impacts_on_gypsy___traveller_communities.pdf   Local authorities are best-placed to determine when it is appropriate to use their powers to evict unauthorised encampments under Sections 77 and 78 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (1994) during the pandemic. Unauthorised encampments can cause harm to the local environment, and the rights of settled residents must be respected.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Opinion

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) focus groups in each month since January 2019.

Luke Hall: The cost of establishing the full spend on opinion polling and focus groups is disproportionate. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) undertakes many research projects each year using external experts. Some of these projects will include either opinion polling or focus groups. This would form part of a wider package of research and to establish the specific cost of that part of the work across all of the projects would exceed 2.5 working days of effort.Details of contracts awarded by MHCLG are routinely published on Contracts Finder.MHCLG is able to provide the following limited information where it is able to identify spend through contracts solely for a) Opinion polling and b) focus groups.Opinion PollsMonthValue (excl. VAT)May 2019£5,000July 2019£1,100October 2019£825January 2020£2,300March 2020£2,600June 2020£4,000 Focus GroupsMonthValue (excl VAT)March 2020£9,999

Sleeping Rough: Coronavirus

Sally-Ann Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to ensure that rough sleepers do not return to the street as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

Luke Hall: This is a public health crisis more than anything and so requires a health response. To enable this our priority was to urgently bring vulnerable people inside so they could self-isolate and stop the virus spreading.Almost 15,000 vulnerable people have been housed in emergency accommodation, including hotels, since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown period.Building on the considerable success so far, we announced that Dame Louise Casey will spearhead a Taskforce to lead the next phase of the Government’s support for rough sleepers during this pandemicThe Taskforce has one overriding objective: to ensure that as many people as possible who have been brought in off the streets in this pandemic do not return to the streets.We announced on 24 June that we are providing local authorities with a further £105 million to enable them to best support the c15,000 people placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic.A further £16 million will also be provided so that vulnerable people currently in emergency accommodation can access the specialist help they need for substance misuse issues, in order to rebuild their lives and move towards work and education. This brings the total funding for substance misuse this year to £23 million.This funding is on top of the £433 million which we announced on 24 May to provide thousands of additional long-term homes for vulnerable rough sleepers. This ambitious commitment will be backed by £160 million this year to support up to 6,000 rough sleepers into longer term accommodation, with 3,300 units of this accommodation becoming available in the next 12 months.

Local Government Finance: Staffordshire

Jack Brereton: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the allocation of an additional £474 million of Government funding to local authorities in Staffordshire in response to the covid-19 outbreak, if he will publish the (a) expenditure of that funding by local authority area and (b) the budget headings under which that funding was spent.

Mr Simon Clarke: Councils are on the front line as we tackle this pandemic, and we have now made £3.2 billion available to local authorities through an un-ringfenced grant so they can address pressures in response to COVID-19.   It is important that we carefully monitor the pressures councils are facing. We have now carried out three rounds of the COVID-19 financial monitoring survey and received data for every single authority in the latest round. We are currently analysing the results from the third round and we will publish the data in due course.   We are extremely grateful for the continued collaboration from councils, which enables us to understand pressures at a national and local level. A summary of the data provided to us by councils in England from the first two rounds of monitoring can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-covid-19-financial-impact-monitoring-information . We are not currently publishing LA-level data, but are keeping this approach under review.   We know from the first two rounds of monitoring that the majority of the money is being allocated to supporting those most vulnerable in society, as we would expect. Other service areas that money is being allocated to environmental costs (which includes death management) and housing which includes homelessness and rough sleeping.

Local Government Finance

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of local authorities who have discussed Section 114 orders with a Minister in his Department in each of the last five years.

Mr Simon Clarke: In the past five years, two section 114 notices have been issued, both by Northamptonshire County Council in 2018. This is a measure that councils can use, under the Local Government Finance Act, to impose immediate spending controls on the authority. The notices were issued at the same time as Ministers and officials from MHCLG were involved in a range of discussions with Northamptonshire County Council in relation to the intervention made by the Secretary of State in 2018 using powers in the Local Government Act 1999.The Department recognises the additional costs and pressures on finances councils are facing as a result of the current COVID-19 crisis. We continue to engage regularly with the local government sector, which includes our ongoing financial monitoring survey and direct contact with councils and their representatives, local leaders and Chief Executives.Throughout the pandemic, the Department has encouraged any local authorities with concerns about unmanageable financial pressures to approach MHCLG in the first instance. We have worked closely with CIPFA who have temporarily amended their guidance on the use of section 114 notices to further encourage local authorities to make contact with the Department to advise of any immediate financial concerns. The Department is working on a comprehensive plan to ensure councils’ financial sustainability over the financial year ahead.

Local Plans: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will work with a wide group of stakeholders to deliver a local plan for York.

Christopher Pincher: The Government wants to see all parts of England covered by an up to date Local Plan to deliver the certainty that local communities and businesses deserve. It is for the Council to deliver a Local Plan for York.The Local Plan is currently at examination and the Council are addressing areas of concern raised by the Inspector but they have expressed their commitment to producing a Local Plan.I would encourage you and your constituents to consider the findings of the Inspector’s report once it is issued.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Contracts

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what checks are done as standard in the award of contracts by his Department to identify and disclose any award of Government contracts to entities (a) owned or controlled by Government ministers or senior civil servants and (b) where such persons have a significant beneficial interest.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what checks are done as standard in the award of contracts by his Department to identify and disclose any award of Government contracts to entities (a) owned or controlled by major political party donors and (b) where such persons have a significant beneficial interest.

Luke Hall: As a contracting Authority as defined in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, MHCLG complies with its legal obligations when assessing tender proposals and the organisations bidding for opportunities.Companies submitting tenders for work are also required to declare any conflicts of interest as part of their tender and these are assessed in relation to the specific requirement.The standard checks MHCLG undertakes when awarding contracts depends on the procurement procedure we use to award the contract. Where we undertake a stand-alone procurement, we carry out checks for conflicts of interest and grounds for exclusion as defined in Regulations 24 and 57 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and by Procurement Policy Notice 01/2019.Where we buy services through an existing Government framework agreement, these checks will have been undertaken by the relevant Contract Authority - for example Crown Commercial Service – at the time they put the framework agreement in place.We require staff involved in any tender evaluation to declare conflicts of interests before engaging in that process. Any declared conflict of interest would typically result in an individual being excluded from the evaluation on proprietary grounds.

Help to Buy Scheme: Coronavirus

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if will he extend the Help to Buy scheme to support (a) housebuilders and (b) first time buyers with approved mortgages in relation to new build handover dates that have been delayed beyond that scheme's cut off date as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Christopher Pincher: The Government recognises the disruption COVID-19 has caused to housebuilding; that is why we took decisive steps to re-open the housing market and ensure housebuilding could safely recommence. The Government published a “Plan to Rebuild” on Monday 11 May, setting out the UK Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy. This makes clear that construction work can be undertaken across England providing sites are able to operate safely in line with the new COVID-19 secure guidelines.As announced at Budget 2018, there is a new two year Help to Buy scheme commencing from 1 April 2021, specifically for first time buyers and so supporting people onto the housing ladder. Where new build properties are not completed within the current Help to Buy scheme deadlines, they may be eligible for sale through the new scheme. More information on the new Help to Buy scheme can be found at https://www.helptobuy.gov.uk/equity-loan/eligibility/.

Multiple Occupation: Coronavirus

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued on house movings in houses in multiple occupation during the covid-19 outbreak.

Christopher Pincher: There is no prohibition on moving home and anyone in England who wishes to move home can do so, including into houses in multiple occupation. Guidance on moving home is available on the GOV.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.This guidance provides important public health information to ensure that the process of moving home and key activities around this, such as viewing property, can happen safely and the risk of spreading coronavirus is minimised.

Immigrants: Coronavirus

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release, £105 million to keep rough sleepers safe and off the streets during coronavirus pandemic, published on 24 June 2020, whether that additional funding can be used to support people with no recourse to public funds.

Luke Hall: At the beginning of the crisis, our priority was to urgently bring vulnerable people inside so they could self-isolate and stop the virus spreading. We backed this with £3.2 million in emergency funding for local authorities to support vulnerable rough sleepers, and a further £3.2 billion to help councils to manage the impacts of COVID-19, including supporting homeless people. The £3.2 billion funding is not ringfenced and can be used across any local services facing pressures, including rough sleeping.On 24 June we announced that we are providing local authorities with a further £105 million to enable them to best support the c15,000 people placed into emergency accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding is on top of the £433 million which we announced on 24 May to provide thousands of additional long-term homes for vulnerable rough sleepers. This commitment will help to ensure that as few of these people as possible return to the streets. The funding will cover a range of interventions, from moves into the private rented sector, to extending or procuring interim accommodation such as hotels or student accommodation and supporting individuals to reconnect with friends or family. This could also include provision for people eligible through the suspension of the derogation or support to return home.It is at the discretion of local authorities to decide who they can support, whether this is British citizens or foreign nationals. The rules relating to eligibility, including those for individuals with no resource to public funds, have not changed. Local authorities must use their judgement in assessing what support they may lawfully give to each person on an individual basis, considering that person’s specific circumstances and support needs. Local authorities already regularly make such judgements on accommodating individuals who might otherwise be ineligible, during extreme weather for example, where there is a risk to life. The Government recognises that these are unprecedented times and expects local authorities to support people who are sleeping rough, and also to minimise unnecessary risks to public health, acting within the law.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Training

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how often training on understanding and applying the Nolan principles is delivered for staff in his Department.

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of his Department’s (a) senior civil servants, (b) private office staff and (c) staff have received training on understanding and applying the Nolan principles in each of the last three years.

Luke Hall: The 7 principles of public life are referenced in Civil Service Learning’s online induction module, which all new civil servants, including those joining MHCLG, are encouraged to undertake.   In addition, new civil servants are familiarised with the Civil Service Code, which outlines that all Civil Servants are expected to commit to the Civil Service’s core values of Integrity, Honesty, Objectivity and Impartiality. Guidance on compliance and how to raise a concern if an individual feels they have been asked to act in a way that might contravene the code is provided on MHCLG’s intranet.   MHCLG also promotes awareness of the code through our induction checklist, relevant communications and has a senior level champion in place for the code and whistleblowing.

Ministry of Defence

Military Aircraft

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the long-term importance of Team Tempest to the British economy after the covid-19 outbreak.

Jeremy Quin: An assessment of the long-term importance of Team Tempest to the British economy is part of the existing and ongoing work in the Combat Air Acquisition Programme Concept Phase. This will inform the Programme Outline Business Case, due in December 2020 to allow the Government to make informed decisions.

Ministry of Defence: Procurement

Marco Longhi: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to prioritise British firms in the procurement of goods and services to increase employment and growth as the covid-19 lockdown eases.

Jeremy Quin: Our intention is always to secure the best capability for the Armed Forces at best value for money for the taxpayer. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the vital contribution the UK defence industry makes to our prosperity. In 2018-19 the MOD spent £19.2 billion with UK industry and commerce, directly supporting 119,000 jobs across the country and indirectly supporting many thousands more. Our UK supply chain has a wide regional footprint and supports the prosperity of the UK across every region, stimulating high-value, high-skilled jobs. We have launched a number of activities to support the growth and competitiveness of the UK defence sector, including through the defence prosperity programme. More broadly, the MOD is leading a cross-Government review into the UK's defence and security sectors. This will identify how we can enhance our strategic approach to ensure we have competitive, innovative and world-class defence and security industries that drive investment and prosperity across the Union, now and in the future.

Veterans: Females

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what financial support is available to female veterans who require child care when they access specialist support or therapy.

Johnny Mercer: The requested information is not held by the Ministry of Defence. This type of support would be provided by the Local Authority in the specific geographical area that the female veteran resided. However, NHS England actively encourage all their providers to offer veterans flexible appointments that help them to access services (in terms of time or location) and have partnership arrangements with Armed Forces charities that can provide assessed childcare support and funding. The Government provides a significant package of childcare support to parents and carers, including our 30 hours offer for working parents of three and four year olds which has rolled out successfully, benefiting around 600,000 children in the first two years of delivery. All three and four year olds, and the most disadvantaged two year olds, are able to access 15 hours a week of early education. From September 2017, the Government doubled the childcare entitlement for working parents of three and four year olds to 30 hours per week. The Government also offers Tax-Free Childcare for every £8 parents pay their provider via an online account, the government will pay £2 up to a maximum contribution of £2,000 per child each year, for children under 12. There is also support available for parents with childcare costs outside of the free early education entitlements for lower income families. For example, eligible families can get help with 85% of their childcare costs through Universal Credit, subject to a monthly limit of £646 for one child or £1,108 for two or more children. Further information on all Government childcare offers can be found at the following link: https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

Fleet Solid Support Ships: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department's definition of full operating capability for Carrier Strike includes the addition of at least one newly-built fleet solid support ship.

Jeremy Quin: No. Under current plans RFA FORT VICTORIA would sail as the task group’s supply vessel.

Defence in UK Prosperity Review

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the July 2018 Dunne Report findings on the disparity in defence spending across the UK.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 29 June 2020 to Questions 64207 and 64208.Informed by the Dunne Review and our own refreshed Industrial Policy, the Defence Prosperity Programme announced on 5 March 2019 aims to grow our contribution to the economy, including through sustaining an internationally competitive and productive UK Defence sector.Activity underway includes a pilot with Invest Northern Ireland on a Defence Technology Exploitation Programme to help SMEs develop stronger links and new routes to market through primes and upper tier companies across the UK.



Defence: Northern Ireland
(Word Document, 15.26 KB)

Ministry of Defence: Overseas Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much Official Development Assistance has been spent by his Department in each year from 2015 to 2020.

James Heappey: Ministry of Defence Official Development Assistance spend figures for this period are as follows: YearODA Expenditure (£million)201511.4820165.1120176.1120184.9920196.0720205.58 (Forecast)

Ministry of Defence: Overseas Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by how much his Department has been requested to reduce its share of the Official Development Assistance budget; and how that reduction will effect the 2 per cent spending target.

James Heappey: No decisions have been taken on reducing the Ministry of Defence's share of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget. ODA represents just 0.01% of the UK’s defence budget. The UK remains committed to meeting the NATO 2% spending target.

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Public Inquiries

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by her Department.

Mims Davies: The requested information is not available. No information is held because there have been no inquiries that the Department has sponsored.

Statutory Sick Pay

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of permanently removing waiting days for statutory sick pay for all illnesses and impairments.

Justin Tomlinson: As part of the Government’s strategy to support people affected by coronavirus (COVID 19), my department has made a number of limited changes to the operation of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). In doing so, we have balanced the need to provide additional support for employees who are sick, self-isolating or shielding due to coronavirus and are unable to work as a result, with considerations about the burden on employers. Temporarily suspending waiting days ensures SSP is payable from day one of a period of absence, rather than day four, to encourage people to follow government advice to prevent the spread of coronavirus. We consulted last year on a range of measures, including reform of SSP, designed to reduce ill-health related job loss. We will bring forward proposals on next steps later this year. SSP is just one part of the government’s safety net. Where an employee’s income is reduced while off sick and they require further financial support they may be able to claim Universal Credit and new style Employment and Support Allowance, depending on individual circumstances.Background SSP is paid at £95.85 per week for up to 28 weeks by the employer.Employers can choose to go further than their statutory requirements and provide more financial support to their employee throughout their sickness absence.We have increased the standard rate in Universal Credit by £20 a week for one year – this will mean claimants will be up to £1040 a year better off.The consultation: Health is everyone’s business was published in July 2019 and closed in October 2019.

Debts: Staffordshire

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to support debt advice providers in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Kidsgrove to ensure the maintenance of support for people in financial difficulty as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Will Quince: DWP staff in Stoke and Trent and Staffordshire have continued to maintain strong working relationships with debt advice providers in the area, including Citizens Advice. This includes regular communication between Citizens Advice officers, local Partnership Managers and Jobcentre staff to resolve concerns in a timely manner. Local DWP staff are actively signposting claimants to the most appropriate source of debt advice support and we are working closely with local organisations including Potteries Money Wise and Saltbox, who offer free advice to the local community, to ensure people are still able to access the help they need during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Universal Credit: Pensioners

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to ensure an effective transition from universal credit to receipt of the state pension.

Will Quince: The Government announced in March that anyone reaching State Pension Age while claiming Universal Credit is eligible for a run-on until the end of the assessment period in which they reach State Pension Age. This removes any potential gap in provision with these pensioners receiving, on average, an additional £350. Regulations were laid on 29 June to put this measure on a statutory footing.

Employment: Disability

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress her Department has made on the production of a Green Paper on disability.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department will be bringing forward a Green Paper on health and disability support, focusing on how the welfare system can better meet the needs of claimants with disabilities and health conditions. The Green Paper will be strongly influenced by the views of disabled people and representatives from disability organisations, drawing on the significant engagement we have conducted and which will continue, albeit through different channels, over the summer. Given the necessary focus on the departmental response to COVID-19, we are working to a longer timescale than previously anticipated but we remain committed to publishing in the coming months.

Department for Work and Pensions: Coronavirus

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to ensure the adequacy of the capacity of her Department to provide services during the covid-19 outbreak.

Mims Davies: The Department has redeployed staff from non-business critical areas to front line delivery roles, made use of staff from other Government Departments, has recruited and continues to recruit significant numbers of new staff and has utilised contract and agency staff in certain roles. The Department is continually assessing the service being offered to customers and we continue to keep staff numbers under review as part of our response to the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market.

Disability: Coronavirus

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the easing of covid-19 lockdown restrictions on disabled people.

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with representatives from disabled people on the easing of covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Justin Tomlinson: The Government is committed to supporting disabled people affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. We continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on disabled people using existing and new data sources. The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work has had discussions with charities, disabled people's organisations and individuals to understand the range of experiences disabled people have had during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify the support needed as lockdown restrictions are eased. The Government is ensuring that disabled people continue to have access to accessible communications, updated guidance, including workplace and transport related guidance, as well as other support during the Covid-19 outbreak. All equality and discrimination laws and obligations continue to apply during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cabinet Office Disability Unit continues to work with disability stakeholders and across Government Departments to ensure that the needs of disabled people are considered in the UK Government’s response to COVID-19.

Employment and Support Allowance

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason employment and support allowance was not increased in line with the uplift in universal credit in March 2020.

Justin Tomlinson: The Government has announced a suite of measures that can be quickly and effectively operationalised to benefit those facing the most financial disruption during the pandemic. The Department was experiencing significantly increased demand and had to prioritise the safety and stability of the benefits system overall. The IT system which supports Universal Credit has more capacity to make the necessary changes than the systems that support legacy benefits. It also uses different technology from other DWP systems and these older systems have complex interactions and interdependencies. We estimate that 2.5m households receiving Universal Credit will have benefited straight away from the increase in the standard allowances which was announced on 20 March, and which is additional to the planned annual uprating. New claimants who have either become unemployed, or whose earnings or work hours have decreased because of the outbreak, will benefit too; subject to their eligibility. We have also made a number of changes to legacy and other working age benefits in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including increasing certain entitlements, such as Local Housing Allowance. Up-to-date information about the employment and benefits support available, including Employment and Support Allowance, can be found here: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/employment-and-benefits-support/ Taken together, DWP’s pandemic measures represent an injection of over £6.5 billion into the welfare system and, along with the other job and business support programmes announced by the Chancellor, represent one of the most comprehensive packages of support introduced by an advanced economy in response to COVID19.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 9 June to  Question 52251 on Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations, what policy on mandatory face-to-face assessments for benefit applications applied from 17 June 2020; what her timescale is for confirming next steps; if she will indefinitely suspend mandatory face-to-face assessments for benefit applications indefinitely; and if she will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson: Under pre-existing arrangements for assessments for the health and disability benefits, we will always look to conduct a paper-based assessment where possible. Face-to-face assessments remain suspended while we review what activity we can gradually start reintroducing in line with the latest public health advice and we expect to announce our next steps shortly.

Pensions: Windrush Generation

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the effect on members of the Windrush generation living in frozen rate countries of the policy not to uprate the pensions of UK pensioners living overseas unless there is a legal requirement to do so or where there is a reciprocal agreement in place that provides for that uprating.

Guy Opperman: DWP continues to support the cross-government commitment, actively supporting people of the Windrush generation and working closely with the Home Office. The policy on up-rating UK state pensions overseas is a long-standing one of successive post-war Governments. The UK State Pension is payable worldwide and is uprated abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so. There are no current plans to change this.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of claimants of (a) universal credit and (b) legacy benefits who have had fraudulent claims made in their name in each month in 2020.

Will Quince: We do not have an estimate of the number of claimants of (a) Universal Credit and( b) Legacy benefits who have had a fraudulent claim made in their name in each month in 2020. If an individual approaches DWP alleging they have had their identity hijacked, we will investigate the matter. Where a person has had their identity hijacked and their details have been used to make a fraudulent claim for Universal Credit, the Department may consider the reinstatement of legacy benefits where it is clear they played no part in the making of the claim.

Social Security Benefits: Coronavirus

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will bring forward proposals to increase financial support for key workers who need to self-isolate due to showing covid-19 symptoms.

Will Quince: Holding answer received on 29 June 2020



As part of the Government’s strategy to support people affected by COVID 19, DWP has made a number of changes to make sure people can self-isolate, and to ensure people who need financial help have access to the benefit system. We have introduced new provisions making Statutory Sick Pay payable from day 1 – as opposed to day 4 – where an eligible individual is sick, self-isolating or shielding (in England and Wales).If their income is reduced while sick or self-isolating and they require further financial support, individuals may be able to claim Universal Credit and new style Employment and Support Allowance, depending on their individual circumstances.We have increased the Universal Credit standard allowance by £20 per week for the next 12 months – up to £1,040 this year. This is in addition to the 1.7% inflation increase (announced Nov 2019) as part of the Government’s decision to end the benefits freeze and means more financial support for millions of people across the UK.

Universal Credit

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse was of legal fees  in the case of Johnson, Woods, Barrett and Stewart v the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions rules on by the Court of Appeal on 22 June 2020.

Will Quince: This cost is not available at this time as this case is not yet concluded.

Universal Credit

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the decision of the Court of Appeal of 22 June 2020 in the case of Johnson, Woods, Barrett and Stewart v the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing universal credit applicants to choose the day in the month that their assessment period starts from.

Will Quince: The monthly Universal Credit assessment period and payment structure are fundamental parts of its design, mirroring how the majority of working people are paid. Assessment periods for Universal Credit start from the date of entitlement (date of claim) and each subsequent assessment period will begin on the same date of the month.All claimants decide when to claim, and therefore can choose when to fix their assessment period commencement date.

Universal Credit: Wales

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants in (a) Wales and (b) each constituency in Wales are directly affected by the decision of the Court of Appeal of 22 June 2020 in the case Johnson, Woods, Barrett and Stewart v the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Will Quince: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of (a) the number of additional full-time equivalent (i) staff and (ii) work coaches her Department would require to re-introduce the conditionality regime for universal credit on 1 July 20230 and(b) the average claimant caseload her Department allocates to each full time work coach.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what consultation her Department is undertaking with (a) unions, (b) job centres and (c) staff on re-introducing the universal credit conditionality regime on 1 July 2020.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what changes she has made to the Youth Obligation Support Programme in response to the covid-19 outbreak; and what employment support her Department is providing to job seekers aged 21 and under.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent on the Youth Obligation Support Programme in the 2019-20  financial year; how many young people entered the Youth Obligation Support Programme in that year; what proportion of young people on the Youth Obligation Support programme in 2019-20 were sanctioned compared with young people not on that programme over that same period; what proportion of young people on the Youth Obligation Support programme in 2019-20 were offered a traineeship or work placement if they were still on the Youth Obligation after six months; and how many young people on the Youth Obligation Support programme in that time period left the programme before six months without finding work.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Public Inquiries

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by his Department.

Victoria Prentis: There are no statutory or non-statutory public inquiries currently being undertaken by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Marine Protected Areas

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the effectiveness of the UK’s offshore marine protected areas.

Rebecca Pow: Marine protection is a devolved matter and the information provided relates to England only. One of Defra’s biggest challenges in seeking to ensure effective management of offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) has been the need to secure the agreement of other countries through the Common Fisheries Policy process. This requirement will end when the Transition Period has finished. The Fisheries Bill proposes a new power enabling the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) to implement fisheries management measures for conservation purposes both within our MPAs and more widely across English waters. The MMO will be able to use this power after the expiry of the Transition Period. Activities within MPAs that require planning or licensing consent are assessed by the relevant regulator, including the MMO, to prevent damage to these designated areas.

Fisheries: Marine Protected Areas

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of supertrawler fishing on the UK’s offshore marine protected areas.

Rebecca Pow: Marine protection is a devolved matter and the information provided relates to England only. The Common Fisheries Policy has restricted our ability to implement fisheries management measures within offshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The Fisheries Bill proposes a new power to allow the introduction of measures for conservation purposes, both within our MPAs and more widely across English waters. Not all fishing activities within MPAs will require management, only those likely to damage the designated features, such as trawling on the seabed. The Marine Management Organisation monitors activity to ensure fishing boats are complying with current rules, and will ensure compliance with new measures as they are introduced.

Fishing Catches

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure fishing catch limits do not exceed scientifically recommended sustainable levels.

Victoria Prentis: The Government’s priority in relation to annual negotiations on fishing opportunities is to ensure that the total allowable catch for each fish stock that we have an interest in is set within sustainable limits taking account of scientific advice. Management measures, both technical and control based, are in place throughout the year to ensure monitoring and compliance of agreed catch limits and methods of capture. Enforcement of management measures is carried out through physical and electronic means as appropriate. The Fisheries Bill will put in place Fisheries Management Plans to help deliver and maintain stocks at sustainable levels into the future.

Highly Protected Marine Areas

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the timeframe is for the implementation of the recommendations of the Benyon Review into Highly Protected Marine Areas; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Prentis: The Government welcomes the publication of the review into Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) on 8 June 2020. It is available at:www.gov.uk/government/publications/highly-protected-marine-areas-hpmas-review-2019.We will consider Richard Benyon’s report and issue a formal response to him in due course, recognising our immediate priority to support the cross-Government response to Covid-19. From there on, we have an opportunity to develop a programme of work to bring forward HPMAs for the first time in English waters. We would, of course, consult widely with the public and stakeholders before any decision to designate HPMAs.

Fisheries: Environment Protection

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect on the marine environment of supertrawlers fishing in UK waters; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Prentis: No specific assessments have been made of the impact of large trawlers on the marine environment. However, the impact of all fishing activities is taken into account when we assess the status of UK seas and set targets to achieve Good Environmental Status under the UK Marine Strategy. Assessments carried out for the 2019 UK Marine Strategy Part One showed that commercial fishing is one of the predominant pressures preventing good environmental status of UK seas from being achieved. At the end of the transition period, any access by non-UK vessels to fish in UK waters will be a matter for negotiation. Any vessels granted access to fish in our waters, regardless of nationality, will need to abide by UK rules including those on sustainability.

Environment: Coronavirus

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 lockdown on the UK's natural environment; and if he will make a statement.

Rebecca Pow: Our efforts to keep coronavirus under control have had follow-on impacts on our natural environment. It is too early to draw detailed conclusions about the impacts of the lockdown, but some trends are developing. The unprecedented changes in living and working patterns during the coronavirus outbreak are likely to have had an effect on air pollution and could potentially lead to short-term improvements in air quality. It has been encouraging to see reports that some of our wildlife, including our common mammals and ground nesting birds, may be doing well, venturing into areas where they would not normally be seen. It is similarly encouraging to see reports of wildflowers blooming on roadside verges and land that has not been mown during the lockdown. Defra will continue to research and develop our understanding of the longer-term implications from these unprecedented changes in living and working patterns. This will ensure we apply that learning to delivering the Clean Air Strategy, 25 Year Environment Plan, the Environment Bill and our approach to the Government’s Net Zero commitment.

Dairy Response Fund 2020

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of qualifying farmers expected to be granted financial support from the Dairy Response Fund.

Victoria Prentis: The new Dairy Response Fund which opened for applications on 18 June will help support those dairy farmers who have seen decreased demand for their products as bars, restaurants and cafes have been closed. The deadline for applications to the fund is 14 August. Details of the number of eligible applicants to the fund will be available in due course.

Plastics: Waste

Craig Tracey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that (a) the 30 per cent of exported UK plastic waste destined for Turkey is managed to standards equivalent to those in the UK and (b) leakage into the environment, rivers and seas is prevented.

Rebecca Pow: The UK and Turkey are both Parties to the United Nations Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposal. The Convention provides a global system for controlling the export of hazardous wastes and wastes collected from households. The UK and Turkey are also both members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and are subject to an OECD Council Decision which provides the legal framework for the control of movements of wastes within the OECD to ensure the environmentally sound and economically efficient recovery of wastes. The requirements of the Basel Convention and the OECD Decision are implemented in UK law by the EU Waste Shipment Regulations and the UK Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations. This legislation requires that those involved in the shipments of waste take all necessary steps to ensure waste is managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout its shipment and during its recycling or recovery in the country of destination. The UK regulators take a proactive and intelligence-led approach to checking compliance with waste shipments legislation and intervene to stop illegal exports taking place when necessary. In England in 2018/19, the Environment Agency (EA) inspected almost 1,000 shipping containers at ports and returned over 200 of those to sites. During this period, the EA also prevented 12,000 tonnes of waste from reaching ports which may have otherwise been exported illegally. Any operators found to be illegally exporting waste can face severe sanctions - from financial penalties to imprisonment for a period of up to two years.

Tree Planting: Staffordshire

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase the rate of tree planting in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire.

Rebecca Pow: Working with the Devolved Administrations, we are committed to significantly increasing tree planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by 2025, in line with the Committee on Climate Change’s recommendations. We announced a £640 million Nature for Climate Fund to help drive up planting rates in England. To support this, we have opened a consultation on an England Tree Strategy and welcome responses from the forestry sector and wider public. Responses will help us to understand what more could be done to encourage even more tree planting. Within this we hope to empower local communities, generating local support for, and where possible participation in, afforestation at a new scale.

Waste Disposal: Staffordshire

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that commercial and household waste continues to be collected in (a) Stoke-on-Trent, (b) Kidsgrove and (c) Talke.

Rebecca Pow: Defra has worked with local government, other Government departments and the waste industry to produce and publish guidance to help local authorities manage their waste collection services and household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) during the Covid-19 outbreak. Defra officials also meet local authority and industry representatives weekly to share intelligence and to ensure that commercial and household waste can continue to be collected safely during the pandemic. Weekly surveys indicate that, due to the hard work of those in the sector, nearly all English authorities are operating commercial and household waste collections as normal, with only a small percentage reporting minor disruption. Demand for commercial collections has dropped but services continue to operate for businesses that need them. The Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government and I wrote to local authorities on 5 May to thank those working to deliver waste services during the Covid-19 outbreak for the vital role they are playing in protecting the environment, public amenity and people’s health. We wrote a further letter on 28 June asking local authorities to ensure that as much access as possible is provided to HWRC services where this can be done safely.

Chester Zoo: Coronavirus

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support Chester zoo during the covid-19 outbreak.

Victoria Prentis: A number of schemes have been made available to businesses and charities that should help them during this emergency. Zoos are eligible to apply for the Job Retention Scheme, VAT deferral, Business Rates Relief, the Business Interruption Loan schemes, the option to reclaim the costs of Statutory Sick Pay and grant funding of up to £25,000. The Zoos Support Fund was launched on 4 May with £14 million being made available to zoos in England. In response to feedback from the zoo industry the fund will now be extended to provide support to the sector of up to £100 million. Further details on the new scheme and eligibility will be released over the coming weeks. We will be engaging with some of the major zoos and aquariums, including Chester Zoo, to assess future support options. In England, zoos and aquariums have been able to reopen outdoor areas since 15 June, subject to social distancing measures being in place. From 4 July indoor areas such as cafés and exhibits will be able to follow suit. Allowing zoos to fully reopen is a vital step towards enabling them to cover some of the cost of animal care. We continue to work with BIAZA (British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums) to monitor concerns and gather insights from industry on current issues.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Small Businesses

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a mandatory requirement that all procurement by his Department be sourced from small and medium sized British businesses.

Victoria Prentis: Defra adheres to the requirements set out in the Public Contract Regulations (PCR) 2015, which look to set out and ensure that a fair and inclusive supply base exists where all have an equal opportunity to bid. The PCR enable buyers to run procurements faster, with less red tape and with a greater focus on getting the right supplier and best tender in accordance with sound commercial practice. These principles apply to above threshold requirements but equally apply to below threshold ensuring sound commercial practice is maintained:www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-new-thresholds-2020.Defra adheres to and supports the initiatives set out in Procurement Policy Note 03/15, which sets out the need to make public procurements more accessible to small and medium enterprises (SMEs): www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0315-reforms-to-make-public-procurement-more-accessible-to-smes.Defra already recognises the important role of SMEs in delivering UK economic growth and prosperity. The Government has remained committed to supporting the SME agenda and Defra supports this. We encourage SMEs to bid for departmental business and we monitor the level of business SMEs receive from us directly (by winning contracts) or indirectly (by winning contracts with prime contractors or further down supply chains). In support of this commitment, Defra has published its Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Commercial Plan:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/817258/sme-commercial-plan-2018-2022.pdf.We regularly review our approach and if a barrier is identified we look to remove it.

Disability: Food

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to work with food providers to ensure that disabled families have adequate access to food supplies.

Victoria Prentis: We know the difficulties that people with disabilities currently face in accessing food and are taking steps to support this group. We have brokered discussions between charities and retailers to help ensure that services are accessible for disabled people. We know that a large number of vulnerable people continue to rely on friends, family and wider community support. Where that is not possible, there are a number of options available for people to access support. Individuals can request help from an NHS volunteer responder, by calling or visiting the Royal Voluntary Service website:volunteering.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/nhs-volunteer-responders-portal/isolating. Individuals can use one of the increasing range and number of local, regional and national commercial services that provide home delivery of groceries. They can also call their local authority, who will be able to help refer them to local voluntary and commercial shop and drop services and may be able to offer other support too. Most supermarkets also offer protected in-store shopping hours to vulnerable groups including people with disabilities and their carers.

Pigeons: Conservation

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to take steps to protect racing pigeons from predators.

Victoria Prentis: The Government's policy is that individuals should be free to manage wildlife within the law. Some predatory species, such as raptors, are afforded legal protection to help ensure that management does not impact on their conservation status. The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 permits the granting of licences to control wild birds but only for certain limited purposes, which are set out in section 16 of the Act. There are currently no provisions in the Act to permit licences to be granted to protect racing pigeons from predation by raptors or other avian predators. Individuals are advised to deter predators, for example by using mesh to disrupt flight lines and to fly birds at times when predators are least likely to be present. Those who are concerned about the effects of raptors on racing pigeons can seek advice from local Natural England officers, who offer free advice to those experiencing problems.

Horticulture: Coronavirus

Andrew Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to respond to the Horticultural Trades Association’s proposal for a grant aid scheme for ornamental growers to cover plants disposed of during the covid-19 outbreak.

Victoria Prentis: Covid-19 represents a significant challenge to daily life and every part of the economy, including the ornamental horticulture sector. The Government continues to work closely with representatives from the horticulture industry to understand the short-term and long-term impacts on the sector. We have recently received new data on the financial position of the sector following the reopening of garden centres on 13 May. Once we have reviewed that data we will respond to the Horticultural Trades Association’s proposal.

Horticulture: Coronavirus

Andrew Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on designing a grant aid scheme for ornamental growers to cover losses from plants disposed of during the covid-19 outbreak.

Victoria Prentis: Covid-19 represents a significant challenge to daily life and every part of the economy, including the ornamental horticulture sector. The Government continues to work closely with representatives from the horticulture industry to understand the short-term and long-term impacts on the sector. We have recently received new data on the financial position of the sector following the reopening of garden centres on 13 May. Once we have reviewed that data we will respond to the Horticultural Trades Association’s proposal.

Textiles: Recycling

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring that consumer information is provided to promote the sale of durable, repairable and recyclable textiles.

Rebecca Pow: The Government committed in the Resources & Waste Strategy to support ecodesign standards for products and to improve labelling schemes, as well as to address challenges in the textiles sector. We are seeking powers in the Environment Bill that will enable the Government to mandate the provision of relevant information to help consumers make more sustainable purchasing decisions. This information must be relevant to a product’s impact on the natural environment and can include information relating to a product’s durability, reparability and recyclability, as well as its recycled content. The textiles sector remains a priority area for potential future regulations, including but not limited to making use of those powers.

Furs: Sales

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will conduct a public consultation on the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ban the commercial sale of fur in the UK after the end of the transition period.

Victoria Prentis: The Government shares the British public's high regard for animal welfare. There are restrictions on some skin and fur products, which cannot be legally imported into the UK. These include fur from cats and dogs, seal skins and products from commercial hunts. Legislation has prohibited farming of animals for their fur since 2000 in England and Wales, and 2002 in Scotland and Northern Ireland.In addition, we do not allow imports of fur from wild animals caught using methods which are non-compliant with international humane trapping standards. Where fur is from an endangered species protected through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), its import or trade will be subject to CITES controls.During the transition period it is not possible to introduce restrictions relating to the fur trade. Once our future relationship with the EU has been established, we will have the opportunity to consider further steps we could take in relation to fur sales.

Dairy Response Fund 2020

Anthony Mangnall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits on enabling (a) sheep and (b) goat farmers to access the Dairy Response Fund 2020.

Victoria Prentis: We continue to monitor the impact of the Covid-19 disruption on all sectors and dairy producers and are committed to providing support. Dairy producers are eligible for a range of support, including the Covid-19 Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, deferral of VAT payments, and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme. The Bounce Back Loan Scheme will ensure that the smallest businesses can access up to £50,000 loans with a Government 100% guarantee on each loan, to give lenders the confidence they need to support the smallest businesses in the country. We will also cover the first 12 months of interest payments and fees charged to the business by the lender.Businesses in England can also apply for the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund, which supports small and micro businesses with fixed property costs that are not eligible for other grant schemes, and which have suffered a significant fall in income due to Covid-19.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Public Opinion

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) focus groups in each month since January 2019.

Victoria Prentis: The information requested is not held centrally and therefore can only be provided at disproportionate costs.

Economic Growth: Environment Protection

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to amend regulations and environmental protections in order to stimulate economic activity; what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on those plans; and if he will make a statement.

Rebecca Pow: The Government has no current plans to amend regulations and environmental protections in order to stimulate economic activity. However, as we rebuild our economy in response to the coronavirus pandemic, we are working to deliver a fairer, greener and more resilient future. We will ramp up our world-leading work on our ambitious legislative agenda through our landmark Environment and Agricultural Bills. These bills will work hand in hand to protect and recover our precious natural environment and diverse ecosystems in line with our 25 Year Environment Plan to leave the environment in a better place than we have inherited it. The net zero challenge remains and we need to transform our economy over the next three decades to end our contribution to climate change. In the UK we’ve already shown how to grow the economy while cutting emissions and we will continue to lead the world as we respond to the economic impacts of COVID-19 and develop our net zero strategy in advance of COP26.

Clean Air Zones: Coronavirus

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will provide updated guidance and advice to local authorities on how Clean Air Zone programmes are affected by the covid-19 lockdown.

Rebecca Pow: We are in active dialogue with all local authorities with nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exceedances, including those planning Clean Air Zones (CAZs), and are continuing to provide them with specific support and guidance. We are clear that even in these challenging times, we are committed to delivering compliance with NO2 limits in the shortest possible time and that NO2 reduction measures, including CAZs, are still needed.

Welfare Assistance Schemes: Coronavirus

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the £63m local welfare assistance to be used by local authorities announced by the Prime Minister on 10 June 2020, what steps he is taking to ensure that the funding is spent by local authorities on local welfare assistance; and what processes his Department plan to use to monitor the effect of that funding on local welfare assistance.

Victoria Prentis: We will issue guidance to local authorities to make clear that this additional funding is to be spent on local welfare assistance. This guidance will be available imminently, and details of a proportionate approach to monitoring will be outlined within this. The strategic objective of this funding is to support individuals and families who are unable to afford food and other essential items during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nature Conservation: Maps

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how he plans to ensure that the national habitat map for England is (a) accurate and (b) comprehensive.

Rebecca Pow: My officials are currently planning for how to deliver this new duty. We wish to make the best use of recent advances in satellite imagery, increased computational power and ground survey including using citizen scientists, to deliver a good standard of National Habitat Map (NHM). We intend to bid for further resources to deliver the NHM as part of an extensive science assessment programme in the planning round for next year.

Nature Conservation

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to publish a strategy that will set out how a national nature recovery network is to be established.

Rebecca Pow: Our 25 Year Environment Plan marked a step-change in ambitions for wildlife and the natural environment. It committed the Government to establishing a nature recovery network in England and developing a new strategy for nature, setting out how we will implement our international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).The coronavirus outbreak has impacted on our plans. Key international meetings to develop global biodiversity targets, including the CBD Conference in China (originally planned for the end of 2020), have been postponed. At the same time, many of our stakeholders no longer have the capacity to engage on the strategy at the moment.This means that we have slowed the process of drafting the strategy so that we have extra time to engage with stakeholders, and properly reflect on the emerging international framework. We expect the main CBD Conference of the Parties to be rescheduled for some time in 2021 and will update our domestic plans once this is finalised.Although work on the strategy has been delayed, we are bringing forward policies and funding now that will deliver real change for nature and to establish a Nature Recovery Network (NRN).Our Environment Bill lays the foundation for the NRN. It sets the framework for at least one legally binding biodiversity target. It establishes spatial mapping and planning tools to inform nature recovery. It also creates duties and incentives, such as biodiversity net gain, to drive change on the ground.These measures will complement our plans for new funding for nature announced in March this year.

Nature Conservation: Finance

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the resourcing needed to ensure that the proposed Local Nature Recovery Strategies are (a) of a high standard and (b) cover the whole of England.

Rebecca Pow: The Government undertook an Impact Assessment of the Biodiversity Net Gain and Local Nature Recovery (LNR) Strategy provisions in the Environment Bill which was published on 15 October 2019. My officials are continuing to work with counterparts in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and to engage stakeholders to refine our estimates and work towards a more comprehensive assessment of resources required to ensure delivery to a high standard. The Environment Bill requires that, collectively, LNR Strategies cover the whole of England.

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the recommendation on breed specific legislation in paragraph 22 of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee's report on Controlling dangerous dogs, Ninth Report of Session 2017–19, HC 1040, whether he plans to repeal section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Victoria Prentis: The Government response to the report by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) entitled "Controlling Dangerous Dogs (HC1040)", was published on 28 January 2019 and addressed each of the Committee's recommendations. In its response the Government noted it has commissioned research by Middlesex University into dog attacks. The research is ongoing and will help to inform implementation of some of EFRA's recommendations. In their Ninth Report of Session 2017-19, HC 1040, EFRA stopped short of recommending the repeal of section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. In the summary, the Committee stated "We agree with the Government that it would be irresponsible to amend the breed ban immediately without adequate safeguards." In response to the EFRA report, the Government referred to the suite of powers and measures available to police and local authorities to respond to incidents involving dangerous dogs and to help prevent dogs from becoming dangerously out of control.

Fisheries: Marine Protected Areas

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policy on marine conservation of the Lloyd’s List Maritime Intelligence tracking data on the time spent fishing in UK Marine Protected Area waters by foreign owned vessels over 100 metres.

Rebecca Pow: Marine conservation is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. The Marine Management Organisation monitors fishing activity with dedicated enforcement and surveillance work to protect fisheries, including offshore patrol vessels for at-sea surveillance. It tracks the movement of all fishing vessels 24 hours a day through satellite technology, deploys aerial surveillance, and coordinates intelligence from third-party sources – detecting where and when illegal fishing is suspected. Not all fishing activities within Marine Protected Areas will require management; only those activities likely to damage the designated features, such as trawling on the seabed. At the end of the Transition Period, we will have the right to decide who fishes in our waters and on what terms. Any decisions about giving access to fish for vessels from the European Union, or any other coastal states, will be a matter for the UK to decide.

Home Office

Passports

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when blue passports will be available to UK citizens who are renewing their passports.

Kevin Foster: Since March 2020, blue and burgundy passports have been issued concurrently as part of the usual phased approach that ensures a smooth and safe approach to a new passport design. This transition continues, and currently passport applicants are unable to select the colour of the passport that they will receive. However, the vast majority of British passports being issued now are blue.

Immigrants: Health Services

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of excluding NHS workers from the Immigration Health Surcharge.

Kevin Foster: On 21 May, the Prime Minister announced that NHS and health and care staff would be exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge. Officials in the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care are working through how to implement this change.NHS, health and care workers who have paid the Surcharge since the announcement will be refunded. Arrangements are currently being worked out and more details will be announced in due course.

Immigration Controls: EEA Nationals

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Government plans to phase out the use of EEA national identity cards as a valid form of identification at the UK border.

Kevin Foster: The documents that EEA and Swiss nationals need to travel to the UK will not change until at least 2021.We will announce further details of our plans to phase out the use of EEA national identity cards in due course.However, EU Settlement Scheme status holders and others who are protected by the Withdrawal Agreement and equivalent agreements with the EFTA states will continue to be able to use national identity cards for travel to the UK until at least December 2025, in accordance with the terms of those agreements. Thereafter, they will continue to be able to travel here on their national identity card, provided it meets International Civil Aviation Organisation standards.

Criminal Records: EU Nationals

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of foreign offenders who went on to re-offend as a result of the failure by the UK to pass on the details of 75,000 convictions to EU member states.

Kit Malthouse: It is not possible to provide details of offending which has or has not occurred in other Member States.

Criminal Records:  EU nationals

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Minister in her Department made the decision not to inform the EU of the failure to pass on the details of 75,000 convictions of EU nationals to EU member states; and when that decision was taken.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office informed the Commission and EU Member States of this issue in July 2019.

Criminal Records: EU Nationals

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether all EU member states have now been notified of the details of the 75,000 convictions which her Department had previously failed to send.

Kit Malthouse: ACRO is working with the Home Office to identify a technical fix and implement it as soon as possible the relevant countries will then be notified.

Criminal Records:  EU nationals

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she became aware of the UK's failure to share the details of 75,000 criminal convictions with EU member states; and when she informed EU member states of the mistake.

Kit Malthouse: Home Office Ministers were notified of the technical issue which led to some criminal conviction data not being passed on to EU Member States, in July 2019. Later that month the Home Office informed the EU of the problem.

Refugees: Children

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to ensure the continuation of family reunions and the safe passage of child refugees.

Chris Philp: The Government remains committed to the principle of family reunion, as well as to supporting vulnerable children.The UK will continue to be bound by the Dublin Regulation provisions during the transition period, allowing us to continue to transfer family reunion cases to the UK throughout 2020, and we will continue to process all family reunion requests that have been submitted but not completed under Dublin before the end of the transition period.The UK has presented a genuine and sincere offer to the EU on a future reciprocal arrangement for the family reunion of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children together with a draft legal text.The UK provides a safe and legal route to bring families of refugees together through its refugee family reunion policy. This route will not be affected when we leave the EU. In the year ending March 2020, over 7,400 Refugee Family Reunion visas were issued to partners and children of those previously granted asylum or humanitarian protection in the UK.Additionally, Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules provides for family members wishing to enter or remain in the UK on the basis of their relationship with a family member who is a British citizen or settled in the UK, and those who are post-flight family of a person granted protection in the UK.

Migrant Workers: Pay

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her policy to remove the £30,000 minimum salary threshold for immigrants wishing to work in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Kevin Foster: The Government has published details relating to the UK’s Points-Based Immigration System. Sponsoring employers must pay their workers at least the general salary threshold of £25,600, or the going rate for their particular occupation, whichever is higher. This includes a general salary threshold of £25,600. However, the tradeable points mean a person can earn a lower salary if they are a new entrant to the labour market, working in a job on the Shortage Occupation List or they have a relevant PHD. There is a minimum salary threshold of £20,480.As recommended by the Migration Advisory Committee for some public sector jobs, the salary will be in line with the occupation’s national pay scale.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2020 to Question 3166, what proportion of applicants who have applied to the EU Settlement Scheme without a valid identity document have received (a) settled status and (b) pre-settled status and (c) another outcome.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2020 to Question 3166, what funding will be available after March 2020 to support vulnerable EU citizens who are (a) homeless, (b) elderly and (c) young people in care in applying for the EU Settlement Scheme.

Kevin Foster: The latest published information shows that more than 3.6 million (3,612,400) EU Settlement Scheme applications had been received up to 31 May 2020. In the same period 3.3 million (3,319,000) applications had been concluded of which 57% were granted settled status and 41% pre-settled status.The latest figures can be found in the Home Office’s ‘EU Settlement Scheme monthly statistics’ available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-statisticsThe Home Office remains committed to supporting vulnerable and hard to reach groups after March 2020, through a wide range of support available online, over the phone and in person to help people apply.The Settlement Resolution Centre is in place to provide assistance to applicants with any questions about the scheme or who need help applying. Additional support is also available to those EU citizens in the UK who do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to apply. This includes over 300 assisted digital locations across the UK where people can be supported through their application. It is one of several ways people can verify their identity, including by post. There are also over 80 locations where applicants can have their passport scanned and verified across the UK. The Home Office also works closely with other Government departments, including DfE, MHCLG, HMRC and DWP, as well as engaging with Local Authorities and Devolved Administrations to support and promote the EUSS.The Home Office recently committed a further £8 million of grant funding for FY 2020/21 to ensure important information and assistance continue to get through to those hardest to reach, allowing charities, as well as local authorities to bid for funding to provide support to vulnerable people, including young people across the UK.

Asylum: Finance

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to monitor the time taken to issue ASPEN cards to people on asylum support; and what steps she is taking to ensure that back payments are paid in cases where there has been a delay in issuing that card.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that people in receipt of asylum support are able to access payments via their ASPEN card when moved to dispersal accommodation.

Chris Philp: A dedicated ASPEN team is in place and manages, via the AIRE Service Provider, all enquiries relating to ASPEN Cards which includes a contact email inbox.The HO does not routinely collect data on the time taken to issue ASPEN cards but we are continuing to work with all accommodation providers to ensure that applicants are able to access financial support upon dispersal. There is an Emergency Support Payment (ECP) provision available from Providers to ensure that Service Users are supported until receipt of their ASPEN Card.For service users awaiting payment of backdated support, there is a priority workstream in place which is subject to robust scrutiny to ensure correct levels of backdated support are provided.

Frontier Workers: EU Nationals

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the powers granted under section 8 (2) of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020, when a scheme for the issuance of Frontier Worker’s documents under Article 26 of the Withdrawal Agreement will be implemented.

Kevin Foster: Regulations will be made under section 8(2) of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 protecting the rights of EEA and Swiss citizens who are frontier working into the UK by 31 December 2020 and establishing a scheme to enable them to apply for a frontier worker document to prove their right to enter the UK for work after that date.The scheme will be implemented as soon as possible, and further information will be set out in due course.

Immigrants: Health Services

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) EU citizens resident in the UK and (b) UK residents in the EU will be required to pay an immigration health surcharge after the UK leaves the EU.

Kevin Foster: EEA and Swiss citizens who are resident in the UK before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020 will be eligible to apply to secure their status under the EU Settlement Scheme and will have until 30 June 2021 to make their application. Applications under the EU Settlement Scheme are not subject to the Immigration Health Surcharge. This was agreed as part of negotiations on the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, which also protects the rights of UK nationals in the EU.After the introduction of the new points-based immigration system, migrants to the UK subject to immigration control will be treated the same and should pay the IHS if staying for longer than six months. There are several published exemptions to this rule.

Home Office: Apprentices

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department,  what proportion of staff employed by her Department are apprentices.

James Brokenshire: The number of staff currently employed in the Home Office as apprentices is 343, which is 0.99% of headcount (this does not include individuals in the pipeline, undergoing security checks). Further information is provided in the attached table.



PQ Table
(PDF Document, 65.55 KB)

Home Office: LGBT People

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to improve LGBT+ representation in senior positions in her Department.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office Diversity & Inclusion Strategy sets a target of 6% representation for Lesbian, Gay and Bi staff in senior positions by 2025. We will assess a target for Trans staff when we are able to capture this data soon.We have a comprehensive programme of activity underway led by a senior LGBTI+ Champion including an inclusive language pack to improve understanding of the importance of appropriate language in the workplace, a new recruitment model for LGBTI+ apprentices and Career Watch pilots for LGBTI+ staff, focused on active sponsorship of staff to build the talent pipeline to senior levels.

Asylum

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many inadmissibility decisions based on the concept of safe third country were made by the UK in 2019; and which designated safe third country those decisions related to.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many inadmissibility decisions based on the concept of first country of asylum were made for each such country in 2019.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she holds information on the average duration of the Dublin III Regulation procedure from the issuing of an outgoing request to the UK until the transfer to the member state responsible; and if she will make a statement.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time for a transfer under the Dublin III regulation procedure is from when a Member State accepts responsibility to the transfer from the UK to that Member State.

Chris Philp: The Dublin III Regulation is a long-standing mechanism between EU Member States to determine responsibility for examining asylum claims. It is not an application route for transfer to the UK. At present we do not publish data on cases covered by the Dublin Regulation. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, regularly publishes Member State figures, which can be found at: http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=migr_dubto&lang=enUnder the Dublin III Regulation, member states have two months from receiving a request from another participating Member State to accept or reject responsibility for processing the asylum claim. Once a Dublin request has been accepted, the Regulation provides that the sending Member State has six months to enact the transfer. The Home Office works closely with EU Member State partners to enact transfers as soon as possible and ahead of the six-month timeframe.The latest guidance on the Dublin III Regulation was published in April 2020 and can be found via the link below:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/797216/Dublin-III-regulation-v2.0ext.pdfThe UK is committed to providing protection to those who need it, in accordance with its international obligations. It is an established principle that those in need of protection should seek asylum in the first safe country that they enter and not put their lives at risk by making unnecessary and dangerous onwards journeys to the UK. Illegal migration from safe countries undermines our efforts to help those most in need.Controlled resettlement via safe and legal routes is the best way to protect refugees and disrupt the organised crime groups that exploit migrants and refugees. We support these principles by:treating asylum claims made in the UK as inadmissible if the claimants have suitable protection in another safe country from where they would not face refoulement (that is, the country would not force the claimant to return to another country where they would be at risk of harm or persecution)treating asylum claims made in the UK as inadmissible if the claimant has travelled through or has a connection to another safe country which is not their own, on the basis that the claimant has, or could have lodged their asylum claim thereprogressing to removal stage those who undertake illegal journeys and subvert immigration control, to demonstrate that such action will not lead to entry to, or settlement in the UK.Information regarding how many inadmissible decisions based on the concept of safe third country, first country of asylum and which designated safe third country those decisions relate to is not recorded or held in a reportable format.Full guidance on which asylum claims must be treated as inadmissible was published in October 2019 and can be found via the link below:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inadmissibility-third-country-cases

UK Visas and Immigration: Zimbabwe

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of UK Visas and Immigration’s country policy and information notes on Zimbabwe.

Chris Philp: Our country policy and information notes are published on the gov.uk website. They are kept under constant review and updated periodically. They are based on evidence taken from a wide range of reliable sources, including reputable media outlets; local, national and international organisations, including human rights organisations; and information from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.The Zimbabwe country policy and information notes on “sexual orientation and gender identity and expression” and “opposition to the government” were updated in January and February 2019 respectively, incorporating recommendations from a review commissioned by the Independent Advisory Group on Country Information in December 2018.Asylum and human rights applications from Zimbabwean nationals are subject to review in every appeal and cases are decided on their individual facts and merits.

Deportation: Zimbabwe

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the treatment of refused asylum seekers after their return to Zimbabwe.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not routinely monitor the treatment of people once they are removed from the UK. Returns are only undertaken when the Home Office and courts deem it is safe to do so.The UK is under no obligation to monitor the treatment of unsuccessful asylum seekers who have returned to their country of origin. They are, by definition, foreign nationals who have been found as a matter of law not to need the UK’s protection, and who have no legal basis of stay in the UK. It would be inappropriate for the UK to assume any ongoing responsibility for them when they return to their own country.Should the Home Office receive any specific allegations that a returnee has experienced ill-treatment on return to their country of origin, these would be investigated in partnership with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

Deportation: Zimbabwe

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have been returned to Zimbabwe in each of the last four calendar years.

Chris Philp: The Home Office publishes data on returns from the UK in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-releaseData on the number of returns, by year, type of return and asylum and non-asylum are published in table Ret_05 of the returns summary dataset. In addition, the top 10 nationalities being returned by whether an asylum or non-asylum related case, for the most recent period available are published in table Ret_04 .Asylum-related returns relate to cases where there has been an asylum claim at some stage prior to the return. This will include asylum seekers whose asylum claims have been refused, and who have exhausted any rights of appeal, those returned under third country provisions, as well as those granted asylum/protection, but removed for other reasons (such as criminality).The latest data relates to the year ending March 2020.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’. https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=release-date-oldest

High Rise Flats: Fires

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) research, (b) planning and (c) development of procedures had been undertaken by her Department on mass evacuations of tower blocks before the Grenfell Tower fire.

James Brokenshire: Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person must undertake and review regularly a fire risk assessment of the non-domestic premises within tower blocks and put in place and maintain adequate and appropriate fire precautions to mitigate the risk to life from fire. This includes ensuring adequate means of escape for building users. The Local Government Association (LGA) produced guidance on fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats to support responsible persons to deliver an appropriate level of fire safety.Operational guidance, including guidance on managing incidents and undertaking mass evacuations in the event of a fire, is a matter for the sector.

Home Office: Racial Discrimination

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure her Department does not contain institutional racism.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office Diversity and Inclusion Strategy-2018-to-2025 sets out our ambitions to create an inclusive culture in the Department and one where racism is simply not tolerated.

Home Office: International Men's Day

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department took to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office recognised International Men’s Day on 19 November 2019 with a news item on our internal intranet site. The story explained the significance of the event and that the day shone a positive light on male role models, fatherhood and men’s issues.It also highlighted the importance of good mental health for men. The story included an audio interview with a member of staff who discussed his experience of adoption and fatherhood. All staff had an opportunity to engage in these communications.

Migrant Workers: EU Nationals

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she will take to ensure the Government's proposed immigration policy for EU migration after the transition period does not adversely affect the care sector.

Kevin Foster: The independent Migration Advisory Committee has been clear immigration is not the solution to addressing staffing levels in the social care sector. Senior care workers who meet the criteria will be able to come to the UK through the points-based system.We are working alongside employers to ensure the workforce has the right number of people to meet increasing demands and have recently launched a national recruitment campaign.We are also providing councils with access to an additional £1.5 billion for adults and children’s social care in 2020-21.

Migrant Workers: Conditions of Employment

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the closure of immigration routes to lower paid work on levels of labour market abuse and exploitation.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that migrant workers can report labour market abuse to the police and other labour enforcement agencies without their details being passed to immigration enforcement.

Kevin Foster: The Government has been clear free movement is ending and a new immigration system will be introduced from January 2021.The Government is committed to eradicating exploitation across all sectors of the labour market and migrant workers are no exception.The focus of the Gangmasters Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) is on protecting vulnerable and exploited workers, who can raise concerns in confidence with the GLAA through their telephone line.

Immigration Controls

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the definition of a STEM course is in relation to the proposed immigration rules.

Kevin Foster: PHD qualifications relevant to the occupation will be a tradeable characteristic with additional points awarded for a PHD in a STEM subject. This will cover PhD qualifications in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.Further guidance for applicants and employers will be provided before the introduction of the new system.

Visas: Asia

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to extend the two-year multiple entry visa to (a) Chinese and (b) Indian nationals; and if she will make a statement.

Kevin Foster: UK standard visit visas are available with six month, two year, five year and ten year validity for citizens of all countries including Chinese and Indian nationals. Most visit visas are issued as multi entry as standard.An application for a visit visa may be made anywhere in the world outside the UK. Full details are available at https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor-visa

Immigration Controls

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the policy statement, the UK's points-based immigration system, published on 19 February 2020, when initiatives for NHS workers will be brought forward; and whether that pathway will include routes for health and social care professionals.

Kevin Foster: The Government is committed to introducing a Health and Care visa which will provide eligible doctors, nurses and other allied health and social care professionals, and their families, with fast-track entry, reduced visa fees and dedicated resource. In addition, as announced by the Prime Minister on 21 May, all NHS workers and wider health and social care workers, including those coming on the NHS Visa, will be exempted from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge.Further details, including eligibility, will be published in due course.

Immigration Controls

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her 19 February 2020 policy statement entitled The UK's points-based immigration system, whether she has made an assessment of the potential effect of the (a) exclusion of an immigration route for low-skilled work and (b) general salary threshold of £25,600 on the adequacy of the number of staff in the health and social care sector.

Kevin Foster: We will not be introducing an immigration route for those who do not meet the skills and salary threshold for the skilled worker route and to allow employers to recruit at or near the legal minimum wage across the globe.Following advice from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) the Government has reduced both the general salary and skills thresholds for those who wish to come to the UK to work. There will also be an element of “tradeable” points which will mean that those who do not meet the general salary threshold may still be able to enter the UK if, for example, they have a job in a shortage occupation.Additionally, we will be introducing a new fast-track Health and Care visa. This will make it easier and quicker for the best global health professionals to work in the NHS, for NHS commissioned service providers, and in eligible occupations in the social care sector.The MAC has been clear immigration is not the sole answer to the challenges in the social care sector. As we implement the new immigration system, we want employers to focus on investing in our domestic work force, including those who may need to find new employment due to the impact of the present circumstances relating to Covid-19.The Government is working closely with the sector to go further to recognise the contributions of social care workers. We will keep labour market data under very careful scrutiny to monitor any pressures in key sectors, especially considering recent events.

Places of Worship Security Funding Scheme

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many mosques have applied unsuccessfully for funding from the Place of Worship Security Fund.

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many mosques have received funding from the Place of Worship Security Fund since its establishment.

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many mosques have unsuccessfully applied for funding from the Place of Worship Security Fund since its establishment.

James Brokenshire: 431 applications have been made to the Places of Worship Security Funding Scheme since it began in 2016. In total, 109 applications were from Muslim communities. Of these, 49 applications were successful whilst 60 applications were unsuccessful.

Antisocial Behaviour: Luton

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle anti-social behaviour in Luton.

Kit Malthouse: We recognise the impact that anti-social behaviour can have on victims, which is why we reformed the powers available to tackle it through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. The Act provides police and local agencies with a range of flexible tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to anti-social behaviour.The powers are deliberately local in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the circumstances. We keep anti-social behaviour policy under review through the Anti-social Behaviour Strategic Board which brings together key partners.It is for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, as operational leaders and elected local representatives, to decide how best to respond to individual crimes and local crime priorities but to help ensure that the police have the resources they need to do so, we are recruiting 20,000 officers over the next three years.

Domestic Abuse

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding the Government has provided to support the prevention of adolescent to parent violence in the last five years.

Kit Malthouse: The Government is committed to tackling all forms of domestic abuse. On 3 March 2020 we re-introduced the landmark draft Domestic Abuse Bill to protect and support victims. The Bill has just finished Committee stage. Our statutory definition of domestic abuse recognises that abuse can also involve wider family members, including parental abuse by an adolescent or grown child or between older siblings.In 2018/19 we provided just under £11,000 to support the prevention of adolescent to parent violence. In addition, we provided £220,000 funding for the development of training for social workers on domestic abuse.In 2015 the Government published an information guide on adolescent to parent violence and abuse, which provides materials and advice to support professionals in their response, including social workers.

EU Nationals: Immigration

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many non-EU citizens with pre-settled status have been detained by border police and subsequently released.

Chris Philp: Border Force does not hold the data requested in an accessible format.All arrivals at the UK Border are considered on their individual merits and on the basis of the evidence available, in line with the UK’s immigration rules.

Refugees: France

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much money from the public purse has been allocated to the French Government for refugee control.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government allocates funding to support the permanent presence of Compagnies Republicaines de Securite in Calais.

Chris Philp: The UK made a financial contribution in 2018 to France to deliver on our obligations under Articles 2-4 of the UK-France Sandhurst Treaty. These articles outline our commitment to (i) continued implementation of the Dublin process (ii) facilitating the transfer of unaccompanied minors under national relocation schemes, and (iii) improving access to French domestic asylum procedures.£3.6 million was specifically allocated to funding the development of the Dublin and Dubs process to support transfers of eligible children to the UK, including training for those working with unaccompanied children, family tracing and targeted information campaigns. We continue to work with France to transfer eligible children under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 and the Dublin regulation and transfers are ongoing.The UK Government does not fund the Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité, whose deployment and operations are the responsibility of the French Government.

Migrant Workers: NHS

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to remove immigration restrictions on non-resident health and care workers to fill NHS vacancies; and if she will make a statement.

Kevin Foster: The Government is committed to introducing a Health and Care visa which will provide eligible doctors, nurses and other allied health and social care professionals, and their families, with fast-track entry, reduced visa fees and dedicated resource.In addition, as announced by the Prime Minister on 21 May, all NHS workers and wider health and social care workers, including those coming on the NHS Visa, will be exempted from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge.Further details, including eligibility, will be published in due course.

Asylum: Coronavirus

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that refugees and asylum seekers have access to information on the covid-19 outbreak in languages other than English.

Chris Philp: The Home Office are engaging with the wider Voluntary and Community sector via the British Red Cross to ensure that the refugees and migrants they are supporting are aware of the Government advice and are clear about the importance of adhering to it.All asylum accommodation providers continue to provide translated public health guidance, available in 12 languages, and instructions to service users.  Where appropriate, service users are supported to ensure that they can self-isolate effectively.Public Health England is also coordinating engagement through its local centres, linking into local authorities and their Directors of Public Health.  They have also translated advice on social distancing and self-isolation into multiple languages, in addition to material provided by Doctors of the World, which is based on the Government’s advice. This advice can be found within the Migrant Health Guide at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-entitlements-migrant-health-guide#main-messages.

Home Office: Off-payroll Working

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many contractors working for her Department have had their employment status assessed in relation to the new IR35 rules on off-payroll working; and how many of those staff are subject to those rules.

James Brokenshire: Following the announcement by HMRC on Wednesday 18th March 2020 of the delay to the reform of the IR35 legislation from 6th April 2020 to the 6th April 2021 the Home Department has ceased immediate preparations for compliance with the revised legislation. We are continuing to assess all contingent labour contractors in accordance with the current April 2017 legislation relating to the Public Sector.

Social Security Benefits: Immigrants

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many workers have no recourse to public funds; and what steps the Government will take to support those workers financially during the covid-19 outbreak.

Kevin Foster: The Government is keeping the situation under constant review. For example, COVID19 has been added to the list of communicable diseases so anyone experiencing symptoms, regardless of their immigration status will be treated for free by the NHS.The no recourse to public funds (NRPF) condition is applied to the leave of most migrants in the UK as a legitimate means of maintaining and protecting our economic resources. Information about NRPF is held on individual case files so wider population data, such as that requested for all households nationally, is not held by the Home Office.

Public Health: Finance

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the effect of no recourse to public funds rules on the public health response to covid-19; and if she will make a statement.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office is working closely with other government departments to support people, including migrants with no recourse to public funds, through this crisis. We are taking a compassionate and pragmatic approach to an unprecedented situation.Testing and treatment for Covid-19 is free of charge to all regardless of immigration status and NHS Trusts have been advised no immigration checks are required for these patients. This message has been widely communicated to the public through various means including in PHE’s migrant health guide (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-entitlements-migrant-health-guide)£3.2 billion will be provided to local authorities in England with additional funding for the devolved administrations under the Barnett formula as part of the wider government response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Immigration

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce decision-making timeframes for (a) visa and (b) asylum applicants; and if she will make it her policy to grant Discretionary Leave to Remain to any applicant waiting more than a year for a decision on their application.

Chris Philp: The Home Office is committed to ensuring that all applications are considered without unnecessary delay.Information on our immigration routes with service standards and whether they have been processed against these standards is available as part of our transparency data, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigrationIf an application is deemed complex and expected to take longer than the standard processing timescale, UKVI will write to the customer within the standard processing time and explain what will happen next.The published information on processing times for complex/ non straightforward visa applications is published as part of the Migration Transparency data, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-dataAll asylum claims are carefully considered on their individual merits on the evidence available to the decision maker. We are committed to ensuring that asylum claims are considered without unnecessary delay, so that those who need protection are granted as soon as possible.Discretionary Leave (DL) is granted outside the Immigration Rules in accordance with published Home Office policy. DL covers those few individuals who do not qualify for any leave under the Rules, but where there are exceptional or compassionate reasons for allowing them to remain in the UK; as such, it is intended to be used sparingly and decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. Delays in decision making occur for a number of reasons, some of which are outside of the Home Office’s control, and it would generally not be appropriate to grant DL under these circumstances.

Immigrants: Health Services

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will suspend the Immigration Health Surcharge for critical workers during the covid-19 outbreak.

Kevin Foster: We are grateful for the vital contributions critical workers are providing to essential public services, including healthcare workers, teachers and care professionals, who are at the forefront of the national effort to tackle coronavirus.On 21 May, the Prime Minister announced NHS and health and care staff would be exempted from the Immigration Health Surcharge. Officials in the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care are working through how to implement this change.NHS, health and care workers who have paid the Surcharge since the announcement will be refunded. Arrangements are being worked out and more details will be announced in due course.More generally it is fair to expect people arriving in the UK to work in non-healthcare roles to make a contribution to the NHS services to which they gain immediate access. The Immigration Health Surcharge is paid as part of the visa application process and income generated helps support NHS services across the whole of the UK.

Immigration Controls: Coronavirus

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Border Force officials have been directed to routinely question people arriving in the UK from abroad with regard to symptoms of covid-19.

Chris Philp: Border Force's remit does not extend to medical screening of passengers at ports.  Medical assessments of arriving passengers is for Public Health Officials.Travellers returning to the UK are not specifically tested for coronavirus.Passengers arriving to the UK have to complete traveller locator forms and quarantine for 14 days. Border Force undertake spot checks at the border to ensure the forms have been completed.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will extend the deadline for applications for EU Settled Status during the covid-19 outbreak.

Kevin Foster: There are no plans to extend the deadline for applications to the EU Settlement Scheme. There is still a year to go until the deadline of 30 June 2021 and the latest published statistics, to 31 May 2020, show the scheme is performing well, with more than 3.6 million applications having been received and over 3.3 million concluded. EEA citizens can apply online, free of charge, simply by completing three key steps: proving their identity, showing they live in the UK and declaring any criminal convictions. There is support available online, by email and telephone from our assisted digital provider. Where a person eligible for leave under the scheme has reasonable grounds for missing the application deadline, they will be given a further opportunity to apply. Our compassionate and flexible approach will ensure individuals who miss the deadline through no fault of their own can still obtain lawful status in the UK. We will publish clear guidance for caseworkers in due course to ensure consistency of approach.

UK Border Force: Aegean Sea

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government has taken to ensure that the UK Border Force assets in the Aegean Sea are operating according to international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law.

Chris Philp: Border Force Maritime Command resources have been deployed to the Aegean since 2015 to support search and rescue efforts where migrant vessels encounter difficulties. Since operations started, they have been involved in the rescue of over 16,000 migrants. Crew receive training in all aspects of their work, which includes human rights, asylum and modern slavery and human trafficking. This ensures that they comply with the law and helps them identify those who are vulnerable.

Visas: Philippines

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when UK visa processing in the Philippines will resume; and whether priority will be given to people with offers of employment in the NHS.

Kevin Foster: Visa processing cannot resume until Visa Applications Centres reopen. The decision to reopen these is taken in conjunction with our commercial partners and is subject to the easing of restrictions in locations by host Governments and our ability to provide an effective service in that location. As centres reopen details of these will be published on our commercial partner websites. We continue to work with the NHS to identify and assist essential workers. NHS staff can contact the UKVI NHS Team by emailing UKVINHSTeam@homeoffice.gov.uk and the team will seek to assist them.

Asylum: Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that asylum seekers are tested for covid-19 before being placed in dispersal accommodation.

Chris Philp: There is no routine testing for asylum seekers prior to them being dispersed, but in line with government guidelines anybody with symptoms in England can now be tested. Asylum seekers who test positive or have symptoms will be accommodated in hotel or self contained accommodation while they are isolating.

Chile: Human Rights

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the ability of Chilean state agents under investigation for torture or ill-treatment to enter the UK.

Chris Philp: All passengers arriving in the UK at passport control are checked against police, security and immigration watch lists on arrival at the border. The majority of these are checked against our systems before they even travel, through the collection of advanced passenger information (API). API helps protect the UK against terrorist attacks, serious cross-border crime and abuses of the immigration system.We are doing everything in our power to prevent foreign criminals entering our country, Border Force officers can and do to refuse entry when they are known to the UK authorities.

Immigrants: Biometrics

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2020 to Question 61486 on UK Border Force: Coronavirus, whether the policy to begin fingerprinting migrants trying to enter the UK irregularly at its French border has been implemented.

Chris Philp: Border Force re-started collecting fingerprints of illegal migrants detected at juxtaposed controls on the 15th of May 2020.

Animal Experiments: Inspections

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 May 2020 to Question 41398 on Animal Experiments: Inspections, whether (a) planned and (b) unannounced on-site inspection visits by the ASRU Inspectorate have resumed following the updated guidance on social distancing.

Kit Malthouse: No, the on-site activities of the inspection programme have not fully resumed. Inspection activities to assess compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act are being continued remotely, for example by telephone and email. Requirements for planned on-site inspection visits to assess compliance are considered on a case-by-case basis and will be planned in accordance with the updated guidance.On-site inspection visits will be resumed in due course in accordance with the updated guidance.

Licensed Premises: Coronavirus

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will amend the Temporary Events Notice regulations to permit pubs to utilise outdoor spaces beyond the current maximum of 21 days in a calendar year to facilitate the safe re-opening of licensed premises.

Kit Malthouse: The Government has no plans to change the regulations concerning temporary events. However, provisions in the Business and Planning Bill will grant a permission to make sales for consumption off the premises to many businesses that are currently only licensed for the consumption of alcohol on the premises. Other provisions will suspend licence conditions that overly restrict the hours of off-sales, ban off-sales in open containers and ban deliveries of alcohol. Alongside other provisions on pavement licensing, these measures will make it easier for licensed premises to expand into outdoor spaces.

Nitrous Oxide: Antisocial Behaviour

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle the antisocial use of nitrous oxide.

Kit Malthouse: Nitrous oxide is a psychoactive substance and subject to the provisions in the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (the 2016 Act). It is an offence under the 2016 Act to produce, supply, offer to supply, possess with intent to supply, import and export a psychoactive substance, subject to certain exemptions. It is also an offence to possess a psychoactive substance in a custodial institution, subject to certain exemptions. The government is committed to tackling illicit drug use and protecting our communities from antisocial behaviour. The Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 introduced powers, such as Public Space Protection Orders, which the police and local councils can use to prevent people from taking intoxicating substances, including psychoactive substances such as nitrous oxide, in specified areas.

Asylum: Housing

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her Department's policy to serve eviction notices to people who have been granted refugee status to leave their asylum accommodation before the ban on evictions ends due to the covid-19 outbreak; and what discussions she had had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on accommodation needed for people facing eviction in order to prevent them from becoming homeless.

Chris Philp: Asylum seekers who are granted refugee status are normally given notice that they must leave any accommodation that has been provided to them by the Home Office within 28 days, as they may now take employment and have access to mainstream benefits and housing assistance from their local authority. Whilst this process was paused on 27 March for a period of three months, we are currently reviewing plans about appropriate timing to resume issuing notices in individual cases in a carefully phased and measured way and have been having discussions with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Local Authorities and others on the arrangements. The timing of those decisions is not affected by the current restrictions on evicting tenants from private rental properties. Those arrangements do not apply to those in asylum support accommodation. This is confirmed in paragraph 2.2 of the Government’s guidance to landlords and tenants, which can be found at: MHCLG guidance (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/888843/Updated_Landlord_and_Tenant_Guidance.pdf)

Immigration: EU Nationals

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that EU nationals are aware of the requirement to have Comprehensive Sickness Insurance prior to naturalisation.

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the requirement  for EU nationals to have Comprehensive Sickness Insurance prior to naturalisation has been (a) introduced and (b) introduced at this time.

Kevin Foster: We have not changed the requirements for naturalisation: it has always been a requirement for a person to have been in the UK lawfully during the residential qualifying period.EEA Regulations set out the requirements which individuals need to follow if they wish to reside here lawfully before attaining permanent residence. For example, in the case of students or the self-sufficient – but not those who were working here – the possession of comprehensive sickness insurance has always been a requirement.Our customer guidance explains this position. The British Nationality Act allows us to exercise discretion over this requirement in the special circumstances of a case. The nationality application form and guide encourage applicants to give us relevant information to help us do that.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Reorganisation

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which trade unions were consulted by her Department as part of the decision to merge the Department for International Development with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Nigel Adams: There was no formal consultation with our trade unions (PCS and FDA) prior to this decision being made. We have now commenced discussions and they will have a key role to play as we develop the new organisation.

Department for International Development: Reorganisation

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will work to the same standards of spending transparency used by her Department.

Wendy Morton: The UK is globally recognised for its expertise and transparency in aid spending. The new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will continue to benefit from that expert knowledge as it delivers aid programmes to some of the world’s poorest people.We are committed to improving transparency of aid globally and maintaining our high standards for overseas spending. We will continue to be accountable to parliament and to taxpayers for how we spend UK aid, and to mandate our partners to be transparent.

Violence: Gender

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she has had discussions with UN agencies on increasing funding for gender-based violence services as part of the Global Humanitarian Response plan.

Wendy Morton: The UK is deeply concerned about the surge in gender-based violence (GBV) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have consistently encouraged the UN agencies, including United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), to prioritise GBV within the Global Humanitarian Response Plan (GHRP) through bilateral channels and joint advocacy with other donors.Whilst we are pleased to see improvements in how GBV is being addressed overall in the GHRP, the UK is continuing to discuss with UN agencies what more can be done to ensure sufficient focus, finance and accountability for GBV in the humanitarian response. All UN agencies and international actors must demonstrate that the shadow pandemic of GBV is taken seriously in the global response to COVID-19 and be held accountable for addressing it.We have committed £20 million to UNICEF and £10 million to UNFPA through the GHRP, which includes funding to scale up reporting, protection and support services for women and girls affected by violence in the world’s poorest countries. £20 million of UK Aid funding to UNHCR’s work with refugees and internally displaced people also includes support for adapting and scaling-up essential services for gender-based violence and child protection.

Violence: Gender

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding her Department has allocated to gender-based violence services during the covid-19 pandemic.

Wendy Morton: The UK is working to leverage a strong and co-ordinated response globally to address the “shadow pandemic” of gender-based violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.We have committed £20 million to UNICEF and £10 million to UNFPA, which includes funding to scale up reporting, protection and support services for women and girls affected by violence in the world’s poorest countries. £20 million of UK Aid funding to UNHCR’s work with refugees and internally displaced people also includes support for adapting and scaling-up essential services for gender-based violence and child protection.We are urgently reorienting existing bilateral programmes to ensure women and girls can continue to access support during the lockdown. For example, in Nepal, the UK is financing 14 Women’s and Children Service Centres across the country and 62 One Stop Crisis Centres.

Department for International Development: Reorganisation

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the implications for the merger of her Department with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the Aid Transparency Index rating the transparency of aid spending by her Department as very good and by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as fair.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The 2020 Aid Transparency Index was launched on 24 June and DFID remains ‘very good’ and the 2nd best bilateral donor, and the FCO has improved performance, moving into the ‘fair’ category for the first time and scoring above average for the non-specialised ministries (foreign/defence/trade) assessed. DFID and FCO both lost points because they were unable to provide sufficiently forward-looking budget forecasts due to the limitations of the current Spending Review settlement, which will be addressed in future assessments.The UK is globally recognised for its expertise and transparency in aid spending. The new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will continue to benefit from that expert knowledge as it delivers aid programmes to some of the world’s poorest people.We are committed to improving transparency of aid globally and maintaining our high standards for overseas spending. We will continue to be accountable to parliament and to taxpayers for how we spend UK aid, and to mandate our partners to be transparent.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Public Inquiries

Lee Anderson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by his Department.

Penny Mordaunt: The Cabinet Office is responsible for two independent statutory public inquiries; the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and the Infected Blood Inquiry. The department has no non-statutory inquiries currently underway.

Infected Blood Inquiry

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions he has had with Ministers in the Welsh Government on the Infected Blood Inquiry.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress he has made with on convening a meeting with the health ministers of the four nations of the UK to discuss the Infected Blood Inquiry.

Penny Mordaunt: The Government is aware that there remains significant disparities in financial and non-financial support for people infected and affected by contaminated blood and blood products across the UK. I am working with HM Treasury, the Department of Health and Social Care and health departments in the devolved administrations to take forward the actions necessary to address these disparities and Cabinet Office officials are in regular contact with colleagues in the devolved administrations on the progress of this work. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of such discussions are not normally disclosed.

Ventilators: Procurement

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reasons the figures supplied on the number of ventilators procured through the Ventilator Challenge are different in the Answer of 23 June 2020 to Question 61475 and the Written Statement of 22 June 2020, HCWS306.

Chloe Smith: The Ventilator Challenge has been a significant success and has been rapidly producing devices.Further to the speech by the Prime Minister today, which is available on GOV.UK, there are now well over 9,500 new ventilators. More information will be published in due course.

Government Departments: Contracts

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what controls his Department requires from Government departments to identify and disclose the award of Government contracts to entities owned or controlled by Government ministers and senior civil servants from their own or other departments.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what controls his Department requires from Government departments to identify and disclose the award of Government contracts to entities owned or controlled by major political party donors.

Chloe Smith: Ministers and Civil Servants are bound respectively by the requirements of the Ministerial Code, the Civil Service Code and the Civil Service Management Code, which include provisions for the management of potential conflicts of interest.

Treasury

Treasury: Public Inquiries

Lee Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by his Department.

Kemi Badenoch: There are currently no (a) statutory or (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken with HMT as the sponsor.

Diversification

Scott Benton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an economic diversification fund to assist constituencies where economies have historically been dependent on a single industry.

Kemi Badenoch: The Government is committed to supporting every local area invest in their local economic priorities and to level up opportunity across the country, including Blackpool. This is why at the previous Budget we announced £6bn for local transport in England, £10.9bn new capital investment into housing, and £5bn to support the rollout of gigabit broadband to the 20% hardest to reach areas. These build on the government’s previous investments, such as the Blackpool 21st Century Centre, the Blackpool Bridges and the Blackpool Tramway Extension funded through our Local Growth Fund. In addition to this Blackpool has been shortlisted as one of the 100 Towns for our £3.6bn Towns Fund.

Retail Trade: Staffordshire

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support high street businesses affected by the covid-19 outbreak in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Kidsgrove.

Kemi Badenoch: The Government has announced unprecedented support for business and workers to protect them against the current economic emergency including almost £300 billion of guarantees – equivalent to 15% of UK GDP. High street businesses continue to have access to a range of support measures including, but not limited to:• A 12-month business rates holiday for all eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in England• The retail, hospitality and leisure grant fund (RHLGF)• A Discretionary Grant Fund for Local Authorities in England• The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)• The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)• The Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBL) for small and micro enterprises• VAT deferral for up to 12 months• The Time To Pay scheme, through which businesses in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, can receive support with their tax affairs• Protection for commercial leaseholders against automatic forfeiture for non-payment until June 30, 2020 – with an option for the Government to extend if needed.The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible and how to apply - https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder.On 11 May the Government published its COVID-19 recovery strategy which sets out a cautious roadmap for easing existing measures in a safe and measured way. Following this roadmap, on 15 June the non-essential retail sector reopened, and on 23 June the Prime Minister announced that from 4 July some businesses in the leisure and hospitality sectors will be able to reopen providing they adhere to COVID Secure guidelines. Following a review, the Prime Minister has also set out where it is not possible to stay two metres apart, guidance will allow people to keep a social distance of one metre plus mitigations which reduce the risk of transmission.The Government`s response is kept constantly under review and we will continue to work hard to support high street businesses as the economy reopens.

Transport: Staffordshire

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to improve local transport infrastructure in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Kidsgrove.

Kemi Badenoch: My Honourable Friend will know that Budget 2020 confirmed that Stoke-on-Trent will receive a share of £117 million of the wider Transforming Cities Fund subject to further business case approval, a share of the £500m Potholes Fund in 2020-21, and £18.5 million investment in the Etruria Valley Link Road from the Local Growth Fund. I believe the Transport Secretary will be providing details of Stoke-on-Trent’s allocation from the Transforming Cities Fund in the coming months, as well as confirming allocations from the £250 million Emergency Active Travel Fund announced on 9 May as the first stage in a £2 billion package to create new era for cycling and walking over this Parliament.

Members: Correspondence

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to the letter of 28 April 2020 from the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North constituency on the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

Kemi Badenoch: I would like to reassure the Member that her letter is receiving urgent attention and will be responded to shortly.

Treasury: Public Opinion

Judith Cummins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) focus groups in each month since January 2019.

Kemi Badenoch: HM Treasury has spent the below on (a) opinion polling in the periods under question: September 2019November 2019May 2020June 2020Total£3,000£2,400£13,188£6,828£25,416 The recent increase was partially to help understand public perceptions in order to inform the government’s response to the pandemic in the Spring Budget. HM Treasury has spent no amounts on focus groups in the periods under question.

Veterinary Services: Coronavirus

Marco Longhi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to support veterinary practices affected by the covid-19 outbreak through business rate relief.

Jesse Norman: The Government has provided enhanced support through business rates relief to businesses occupying properties used for retail, hospitality and leisure given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published guidance for local authorities on eligible properties. As set out in the guidance, support is targeted at premises that are wholly or mainly being used as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues; for assembly and leisure; or as hotels, guest and boarding premises and self-catering accommodation. It is for local authorities to determine eligibility for reliefs, having regard to guidance issued by the Government. A range of further measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday, such as veterinary practices, has also been made available.

Video Games: Tax Allowances

Alex Sobel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the contribution of the Video Games Tax Relief to the UK's (a) economy and (b) job market.

Jesse Norman: HMRC publish annual statistics on all of the UK’s Creative Sector Tax Reliefs. These statistics show that since Video Games tax relief was introduced in 2014 it has supported almost £2.6bn of expenditure across the UK. A 2018 British Film Institute (BFI) report on the screen sector tax reliefs found that across all parts of the value chain, the Video Games Tax Relief had helped to generate 4,640 direct full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs in 2016.

Overseas Aid

Sarah Champion: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on how the Government will deliver the planned 30 per cent reduction on Official Development Assistance; and how that target will be monitored against delivery.

Steve Barclay: The UK has a legal commitment to spend 0.7% of its gross national income (GNI) each year on Official Development Assistance (ODA). The government reviews the ODA funding it allocates to projects on a regular basis in order to ensure delivery of its commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on ODA. Since this commitment is linked to the size of the economy, the level of ODA spend is likely to decrease this year, and therefore commitments of aid spending are being reviewed across all departments. HM Treasury allocates ODA budgets to departments and is responsible for decisions on changes to these. We take evidence-based spending decisions and ensure departments maintain high standards of programme delivery that are consistent with HMG best practice.

Education: Coronavirus

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2020 to Question 61760, how much of the (a) £650 million catch-up funding for schools and (b) £350 million for the establishment of a National Tutoring Programme is new funding.

Steve Barclay: The government will provide a £1 billion catch-up package for children in England. Additional funding that is required on top of existing departmental budgets in 2020-21, accounting for any changes in the forecast cost of programmes and wider budgetary underspends, will be provided at Supplementary Estimates in the usual way. Funding for costs that fall beyond 2020-21 will be reviewed at the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Overseas Aid

Chris Law: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has requested that government departments identify a minimum of 30 per cent reduction in planned Official development Assistance spending for 2020.

Steve Barclay: The UK has a legal commitment to spend 0.7% of its gross national income (GNI) each year on Official Development Assistance (ODA). The government reviews the ODA funding it allocates to projects on a regular basis in order to ensure delivery of its commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on ODA. Since this commitment is linked to the size of the economy, the level of ODA spend is likely to decrease this year, and therefore commitments of aid spending are being reviewed across all departments. HM Treasury allocates ODA budgets to departments and is responsible for decisions on changes to these. We take evidence-based spending decisions and ensure departments maintain high standards of programme delivery that are consistent with HMG best practice.

Self-employment Income Support Scheme: Camberwell and Peckham

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people are receiving assistance under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme in Camberwell and Peckham constituency.

Jesse Norman: As of 31 May 2020, 5,000 individuals had claimed for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme in the Camberwell and Peckham parliamentary constituency area. Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Statistics were published on Thursday 11 June. The statistics referenced can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/self-employment-income-support-scheme-statistics-june-2020

Nurseries: Non-domestic Rates

Claire Hanna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Education of 18 March 2020, Official Report, column 1083 on business rate relief for nurseries, what the Barnett consequentials are for Northern Ireland of that relief.

Steve Barclay: The Northern Ireland Executive will receive around £3 million of additional funding as a result of the business rate relief for nurseries.

Self-employment Income Support Scheme: Directors

Matt Western: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of including Directors of micro limited companies in the second payment of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

Olivia Blake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide support for directors of limited companies who take the majority of their income in dividends.

Jesse Norman: I refer the Honourable Member to the written answer to Parliamentary Question 54215 given on 9 June 2020: www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-06-03/54215/

Business Premises: Coronavirus

Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the valuation of properties under the Non-Domestic Rating (Definition of Domestic Property) (Wales) Order 2010, what guidance his Department has issued to the Valuation Office Agency on non-domestic properties that have been let out to key workers during the covid-19 pandemic; and what discussions he has had with representatives from the  Welsh Government on that matter.

Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will he take steps to ensure that the Valuation Office Agency classifies accommodation let out to key workers on reduced rates as being commercially let and in fulfilment with the specified time periods for short-term letting availability.

Jesse Norman: Business rates and ratings are devolved in Wales, and are therefore a matter for the Welsh Government. In England, to be classed as non-domestic property the owner must have made the property available for commercial short-term letting for at least 140 days in the last year; to have actually let it for a total of at least 70 days; and have arranged for it to be available on the same basis over the next 12 months.

Public Expenditure

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has for requiring government departments to reduce their spending in the 2020-21 financial year.

Steve Barclay: Departments have been reviewing their plans for this year in light of the focus they are putting on Covid-19 response and recovery, accelerating and reprioritising activity as necessary. As we exit the current crisis, we will take stock of the economy and public finances and make further decisions as required

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Social Media: Freedom of Expression

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to require (a) Twitter, Facebook and Google and (b) other technology companies to protect freedom of speech.

Caroline Dinenage: The UK supports freedom of expression as both a fundamental right in itself and as an essential element of a full range of human rights. It is vital that we maintain a thriving democracy and society where pluralism and freedom of expression are protected. It is important that people are able to enjoy their right to freedom of expression and participate in online discussions. The government’s world-leading proposals for a new regulatory framework for online harms will include robust safeguards to protect freedom of expression online. The proposed approach will improve transparency for users about what is and is not acceptable on different platforms, and will enhance users’ ability to challenge removal of content where this occurs.

Internet: Safety

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to  Question 383 the oral contribution of the Minister for Digital and Culture to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, on 9 June 2020, whether it remains his Department's policy to bring forward legislative proposals alongside the response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation full response in Autumn, 2020.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government is committed to making the UK the safest place to be online. DCMS and the Home Office are working at pace to develop the legislation. We will publish a full government response in the autumn. Following that, legislation will be ready in this session.

National Portfolio Organisations: Coronavirus

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the financial effect of the covid-19 outbreak on National Portfolio Organisations; and what support his Department is providing to those organisations.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his Department's policy is on allocating the second tranche of Arts Council England funding to National Portfolio Organisations.

Caroline Dinenage: In order to support the sustainability of the Arts sector, including the National Portfolio, DCMS has worked closely with Arts Council England (ACE) to provide a tailored package of financial support. In March, ACE announced a £160m emergency response package to complement the financial measures already announced by the Government and to ensure immediate resilience of this vital sector. This package includes £90 million of support for National Portfolio Organisations so they can better sustain themselves, and their work, in the coming months. There is no upper limit for the amount of funding National Portfolio Organisations can apply for, and decisions on funding will be made on 30 June 2020. In keeping with the arms-length principle, Arts Council England will determine whether and to what extent organisations receive funding. The Secretary of State, myself and officials continue to consult organisations within the Art sector, including National Portfolio Organisations, extensively to ensure we fully understand the impacts of Covid-19 and remain well placed to respond as it develops.

Holiday Accommodation: Bristol

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the number of short-term lets in Bristol.

Nigel Huddleston: We recognise that these are extremely difficult conditions for hospitality businesses across the country, including short term lets. My officials and I continue to engage with short term holiday accommodation stakeholders to monitor the impact. No specific assessment has been made on COVID-19’s effect on the number of short term lets in Bristol. In preparation for parts of the sector reopening on 4 July, we have published reopening guidance on Gov.uk for hotels and other guest accommodation, including short term holiday lets. We will continue to engage with stakeholders to assess how we can most effectively support tourism’s recovery across the UK.

Holiday Accommodation: Coronavirus

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the number of short-term lets in the UK.

Nigel Huddleston: We recognise that these are extremely difficult conditions for hospitality businesses across the UK, including those in the short term lets market. We also greatly appreciate this market’s work in housing key workers and vulnerable groups during this crisis. My officials and I continue to engage with short term holiday accommodation stakeholders to monitor the impact. No specific assessment has been made on COVID-19’s effect on the number of short term lets in the UK. We have worked very closely with accommodation stakeholders to prepare reopening guidance for hotels and other guest accommodation, including short term holiday lets. As the sector reopens from 4 July onwards, we will continue to engage with stakeholders to assess how we can most effectively support tourism’s recovery across the UK.

Tourism: Coronavirus

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the tourism industry in Bristol.

Nigel Huddleston: We recognise the COVID-19 crisis has significantly impacted tourism across the UK, including in Bristol. DCMS and VisitEngland remain in regular contact with tourism stakeholders and Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) to closely monitor the situation and to assess the economic effects in all regions. The Chancellor has announced a host of measures to support businesses and individuals through the crisis, including those in the tourism sector. This includes the recently extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme and the Bounce Back Loans scheme. Through VisitEngland, we announced a £1.3 million scheme to provide financial support to DMOs at risk of closure due to COVID-19. The DMO Resilience Fund has supported a number of DMOs in the South West, including £22,400 support for Visit Bristol, helping them to continue their vital business support work. From 4 July, people will be allowed to enjoy holidays in England. To help tourism businesses prepare, we have published reopening guidance on Gov.uk for the visitor economy as well as hotels and other guest accommodation.We will continue to engage with stakeholders - including through the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Visitor Economy Working Group - to assess how we can most effectively support tourism’s recovery across the UK.

Tourism: Coronavirus

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the tourism industry in the UK.

Nigel Huddleston: We recognise that these are extremely difficult conditions for tourism businesses across the country. DCMS and VisitEngland remain in regular contact with tourism stakeholders and Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) to assess the economic effects on the industry. I encourage affected tourism businesses to continue to explore the Government’s economic support package, which includes the extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme and the Bounce Back Loans scheme. Through VisitEngland, we announced a £1.3 million scheme to provide financial support to DMOs at risk of closure due to COVID-19. In preparation for parts of the sector reopening on 4 July, we have published reopening guidance on Gov.uk for the businesses in the visitor economy as well as hotels and other guest accommodation. VisitEngland have also introduced an industry standard quality mark that tourism businesses can acquire if they are compliant with COVID-19 secure guidance. We will continue to engage with stakeholders - including through the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Visitor Economy Working Group - to assess how we can most effectively support tourism’s recovery across the UK.

Tourism

Sally-Ann Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to encourage local authorities to market and promote their areas as part of a wider scheme to promote domestic tourism and support the tourism and hospitality sectors.

Nigel Huddleston: We recognise that these are extremely difficult conditions for tourism businesses across the country, including those along the South East coast. We continue to listen to people’s priorities for recovery and will closely monitor the ongoing impact on the tourism industry. We are looking into ways we can work with local authorities to celebrate the UK’s diverse tourism offer once it reopens. We are actively considering all the recovery ideas suggested to us by stakeholders, including schemes to promote domestic tourism. Through the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Visitor Economy Working Group, we have worked very closely with the tourism sector to develop Covid-secure guidance which will help tourism businesses reopen safely. Guidance documents covering hotels and other guest accommodation, the visitor economy and pubs and restaurants are published on Gov.uk. VisitEngland have also introduced an industry standard quality mark that tourism businesses can acquire if they are compliant with Covid-19 secure guidance. The ‘We’re Good To Go’ industry standard mark is part of VisitEngland’s ‘Know Before You Go’ campaign, which encourages the public to find out what is open and when. This campaign points consumers toward Destination Management Organisations’ websites, helping people to access up to date local information.

Citizens' Juries: Universal Credit

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to ensure that universal credit claimants participating in the Innovation in Democracy Programme do not receive deductions to their universal credit as a result of that participation.

Mr John Whittingdale: The Innovation in Democracy Programme supported three local authorities to trial innovative models of deliberative democracy to involve citizens in local decision-making through the use of citizens’ assemblies. The programme ran from November 2018 to March 2020. The citizens’ assemblies took place between September and December 2019. All participants were offered £300 for the 4 days of the citizens assembly. In addition, participants were reimbursed for costs of travel, childcare and other caring costs. With regards to people on Universal Credit or other means-tested benefits, we advised all prospective assembly members to speak to a trusted source of welfare benefits advice.

Concert Halls and Theatres: Coronavirus

Mr William Wragg: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when live performances will recommence in theatres and concert halls during the covid-19 outbreak.

Mr William Wragg: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to assist (a) theatres and (b) concert halls to stage socially-distanced live performances.

Mr William Wragg: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effects of the (a) two metre, and (b) one metre plus, social distancing guidance on theatre and concert hall audience capacities.

Caroline Dinenage: In order to ensure appropriate support and guidance is given to the cultural sector, DCMS has established the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Entertainment and Events working group which include extensive membership from across the artistic and creative sectors. The focus of these groups’ work is on ensuring that COVID-19 secure guidelines are developed in line with the phasing ambitions and public health directions, building on the existing guidance and providing intelligence and sector-specific expert input. These groups specifically include representatives for theatres and stage based entertainment, all of whom are being consulted extensively on how the sector can reopen and operate under social distancing. Following the establishment of the Cultural Renewal Taskforce, on 23 June the Prime Minister announced that from 4 July theatres will be able to reopen for rehearsal, pre-production and broadcast, although not yet for live performance with an audience. Alongside the work that we are doing with representatives of the entertainment and events industry to develop supporting guidance, this represents the first steps in the roadmap to recovery for our nations’ theatres. The Government remains committed to supporting the cultural sector through this pandemic and getting the curtain up at venues for live performances across the country as soon as it is safe to do so.

Culture: Coronavirus

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking through the Entertainment and Events Working Group to ensure that the arts and culture sector can safely reopen as soon as possible as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

Caroline Dinenage: The Secretary of State and DCMS are committed to supporting the cultural sector to reopen as soon as it is safe to do so, and ensure appropriate support and guidance is provided. To that end, DCMS has established the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Entertainment and Events working group which include extensive membership from across the artistic and creative industries sectors. The Taskforce and Working Groups will be focusing on ensuring that COVID-19 secure guidelines are developed in line with the phasing ambitions and public health directions, building on the existing guidance and providing intelligence and sector-specific expert input. Further details on the Entertainment and Events Working Group can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/cultural-renewal-taskforce-and-supporting-working-groups#entertainment-and-events-members.

Sanitary Protection: VAT

Jackie Doyle-Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will list the organisations and projects that have benefited from grants from the Tampon Tax Fund in the 12 months; and what steps he has taken to ensure that those grants have been used to support women's causes.

Mr John Whittingdale: Details of successful applicants to the Tampon Tax Fund since the 2017/18 round of funding are publicly available on gov.uk. The government grants register also provides information regarding grant awards made by government departments. The Tampon Tax Fund provides funding to organisations and projects that support disadvantaged women and girls. Applications to the Tampon Tax Fund must detail how a project will do this. DCMS has grant agreements with all successful applicants which require the project to deliver in line with this commitment, including when delivering any onward grant funding. DCMS maintain close relationships with their grant recipients, including regular assessment of their progress against grant agreements.

Proud Trust: Finance

Jackie Doyle-Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if steps he has taken to ensure that funding allocated to the Proud Trust in relation to the tampon tax scheme has been spent in compliance with that scheme.

Mr John Whittingdale: The Proud Trust received funding through the 2017/18 round of the Tampon Tax Fund. DCMS has grant agreements with all successful Tampon Tax Fund applicants which require organisations to deliver the projects in compliance with the aim of the Fund which is to support disadvantaged women and girls. DCMS maintain close relationships with their grant recipients, including regular scrutiny of their progress against grant agreements. The Proud Trust is required to report on the activities, outcomes and finances of the project funded through the Tampon Tax Fund as part of their grant agreement.

Theatres: Coronavirus

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to help ensure the economic viability of theatres that are unable to operate under social distancing measures.

Caroline Dinenage: This Government recognises how severely theatres, and the wider Arts sector, have been hit by the COVID-19 crisis. In order to support the Arts sector through the pandemic, DCMS has worked closely with Arts Council England (ACE) to provide a tailored package of financial support. In March, ACE announced a £160m emergency response package to complement the financial measures already announced by the Government and to ensure immediate resilience of this vital sector. This package includes £140 million of support for artistic organisations including theatres, and £20 million for individuals, including self-employed theatre practitioners, so they can better sustain themselves, and their work, in the coming months. More than 9000 individuals and organisations have been successful in applying for this emergency funding. The Secretary of State, myself and officials continue to consult the arts sectors extensively to ensure we fully understand the impacts of Covid-19 and remain well placed to respond as the landscape develops. On the basis of that engagement, DCMS and ACE are continuing to work closely to consider the additional measures that are needed to ensure the long-term recovery and growth of the cultural sector, including theatres.

Commercial Broadcasting: Radio

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure a sustainable future for independent, commercial radio stations.

Mr John Whittingdale: We recognise there has been a significant negative impact on radio advertising revenues as a result of the COVID-19 crisis and have worked closely with commercial radio broadcasters and trade bodies to support the industry through this exceptionally challenging period. In addition to the wider economic support available to UK businesses, the government has brokered sector-specific support for commercial radio. Discussions with Arqiva, the UK’s transmission network operator, have resulted in a package of assistance on transmission costs with six months free transmission for Arqiva’s small station customers.

Local Broadcasting: Radio

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that local radio stations continue to provide news to local communities (a) during and (b) after the covid-19 oubreak.

Mr John Whittingdale: The government recognises the vitally important provision of local news and current affairs by local radio stations, particularly during these unprecedented and challenging times. The BBC and commercial radio broadcasters are operationally and editorially independent of government. However, the BBC has introduced a package of measures that it hopes will keep the nation informed, educated, and entertained through these unprecedented times, including increasing local news output between 6am and midday on all BBC local radio stations. Commercial radio has increased its support to listeners and their communities through the provision of additional Covid-19 related content. The wider economic support available to UK businesses and from the package brokered by Government with Arqiva, the UK’s transmission network operator, which will provide six months free transmission for Arqiva’s small station customers, provides crucial support to maintaining news services across commercial radio. As regards commercial stations, the local programming and content requirements for holders of local analogue commercial radio licenses are set by Ofcom under the relevant legislative framework – primarily the Broadcasting Act 1990 and the Communications Act 2003. These are matters for Ofcom.

Digital Broadcasting: Radio

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent progress he has made on the roll out of small-scale DAB radio; and if he will make a statement.

Mr John Whittingdale: Ofcom, the UK’s independent regulator, is responsible for licensing small-scale DAB radio services. Following a consultation with the radio industry in 2019, Ofcom published a policy statement in April 2020 on the approach to licensing small scale DAB services, using powers given to them in The Small-scale Radio Multiplex and Community Digital Radio Order 2019. In June 2020 Ofcom confirmed that they plan to advertise Round One of the small-scale radio multiplex licences in September 2020.

Sports: Coronavirus

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what regulatory impact assessment the Government made of the effect of the decision to extend the restrictions on (a) cricket, (b) indoor swimming, and (c) real tennis beyond 4 July 2020; and if he will make a statement.

Nigel Huddleston: Sports and physical activity facilities play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active.The Government has made it clear that it will adopt a phased approach based on scientific and medical advice, and that the primary goal is to protect public health. The government is in regular contact with representatives of sports, including cricket, swimming and tennis, to discuss both the impact of Covid-19 on sports and to explore how and when grassroots sport can safely resume once lockdown restrictions start to ease. The government has asked individual sports to consider the steps that would need to be taken, and the conditions that would need to be met, for their activity to resume.

Consumer Goods: Electrical Safety

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the scope of the online harms legislation to include the sale of unsafe electrical goods online.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the (a) Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and (b) Office for Product Safety and Standards on including the sale of unsafe electrical goods online as part of online harms legislation.

Caroline Dinenage: Unsafe electrical goods pose an unacceptable risk to individuals. The law is clear: only safe products should be placed on the market. To tackle the sale of unsafe electrical goods online effectively, regulation must be consistent, transparent and joined-up. The Office for Product Safety and Standards is in a unique position across Government to lead work tackling the sale of unsafe electrical goods. However, their work must align with broader work on digital regulation, which DCMS leads. My officials engage closely with the Office for Product Safety and Standards on the issue of unsafe electrical goods sold online. Policy development for online harms legislation is ongoing, including on the scope of the new regulatory framework, to ensure that regulation is clear and proportionate, and that it does not duplicate existing government activity. We will be publishing the Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper Consultation later this year, before moving to legislation.

Gambling: Video Games

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2020 to Question 41511 on Gambling: Video Games, when he plans to publish a response to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s Report on Immersive and Addictive Technologies.

Caroline Dinenage: The government’s response to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s Report on Immersive and Addictive Technologies was published on 8th June. Copies were placed in the libraries of the House, and it is also available on gov.uk here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-the-digital-culture-media-sport-select-committee-report-on-immersive-and-addictive-technologies Our response includes a commitment to launch a call for evidence on loot boxes and to lead work on developing a framework to support future independent research on video games’ impacts on behaviour.

Women and Equalities

Females: Coronavirus

Claire Hanna: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will publish the equalities impact assessments undertaken by her Department to determine the impact of covid-19 related legislation on women.

Kemi Badenoch: Departments do not routinely publish these assessments, as it is important that officials can draft them with openness and candour. Individual departments and their ministers are responsible for equality of policies, and the government takes this responsibility very seriously. The government has assessed the equalities impacts of non-pharmaceutical interventions on different groups of people, including those with protected characteristics and has engaged with individuals, expert groups, charities and other organisations in the policy development process. This is a key part of the decision making process and the government has discharged its obligations under the Equality Act at each stage of its COVID-19 response

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Public Opinion

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much his Department spent on (a) opinion polling and (b) focus groups in each month since January 2019.

Mr Robin Walker: The Northern Ireland Office has had no spend on (a) opinion polling or (b) focus groups in any month since January 2019.

Economic Situation: Northern Ireland

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent assessment the Government has made of the economy of Northern Ireland.

Mr Robin Walker: Whilst the Northern Ireland economy has its challenges, I am confident that Northern Ireland has a promising economic future as we recover from this crisis. This Government will always stand by the people of Northern Ireland. We want Northern Ireland not only to recover but to prosper. For this to happen we need to ensure that we are driving innovation and sustainability, enhancing connectivity, developing a skilled workforce, promoting exports and attracting investment. We will continue to work collaboratively with businesses, the Northern Ireland Executive and local partners to get the economy back up and running, laying the foundations for a stable and sustainable economic future.

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) number of victims who will be entitled to the Victims Payment Scheme and (b) the estimated cost in Years 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Mr Robin Walker: Unlike fatalities, there is no comprehensive dataset about seriously injured victims of the Troubles. In this context the ability to estimate with confidence both the number of applications to the scheme and the number of awards that will be issued is constrained. The Northern Ireland Civil Service, which now has responsibility for delivering the scheme, will need to keep this, and costs in years 1-4, under close review moving forward.

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on what eligibility criteria have his Department estimated the cost of the Victims Payment Scheme.

Mr Robin Walker: The costs of the Scheme will be based on the eligibility criteria as outlined in the Victims Payments legislation (Regulations 5, 6, and 7).

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he had with the Northern Ireland Executive before 29 May 2020 on who would cover the ongoing cost for the Victims Payment Scheme.

Mr Robin Walker: The Regulations are clear that the Executive should fund the scheme. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has been in regular recent contact with the First and deputy First Ministers to discuss a number of aspects of the scheme, including the ongoing costs. Our position is clear. All costs for this scheme, including ongoing costs, should be funded by the NI Executive. It is a devolved matter and devolved matters are typically funded by the block grant.

Prime Minister

Prime Minister: Public Opinion

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2020 to Question 57942 whether he has undertaken (a) polling and (b) other evidence gathering of public opinion to underpin his statement that nobody in Number 10 has done anything to undermine the Government's covid-19 messaging.

Boris Johnson: I refer the Hon. Member to my Parliamentary statement of 23 June 2020, Official Report, Column 1167 onwards, which outlines how we are working with the public to combat the Covid-19 virus, and to trust in the common sense of the British people. That common sense and the public’s sacrifices have allowed us to get the virus under control and downgrade the Covid Alert Level.